SOUNDTRACK: KING’S X-Black Like Sunday (2003).
This is a collection of old and rare tracks that King’s X decided to record anew, rather than releasing older versions. This makes for an unusual scenario of a band recording songs that the wrote some twenty years earlier. It’s a weird collection of songs to me, as some of them, the ones that I assume are early songs, really sound like they’re early songs: without all of the interesting aspects that later King’s X became known for (musical complexity, meaningful lyrics). I can’t help but wonder if they thought about “updating” the songs more than just by re-recording them.
And, I have mixed reactions to this disc. It’s not King’s X as I like them, yet there are moments that are really great. And, there are even a couple of songs that I don’t think are very good, yet which I can’t get out of my head (“Danger Zone” comes to mind…it sounds like an 80s metal ballad, and yet it’s been in my head for 3 days). Some other tracks are really good, and must be B-sides, rather than old songs: “Black Like Sunday” is great and “Screamer” is a wonderfully dark song, even if the chorus is pretty much just Doug screaming. There’s also a good chance for Ty to get a soloing workout on “Johnny,” an 11 minute song that is mostly guitar noodling.
Overall this disc feels like something of a stopgap. And, when you combine it with the live album Live All Over the Place (2004) which came next, it really seemed like King’s X were winding down their career.
[READ: October 22, 2008] Nation
Terry Pratchett has a new book out and — NEWSFLASH — it’s NOT set on Discworld. There’s no mention of Discworld, and Pratchett’s character-in-every-book Death does not show up (although there is a Death-like character, and there are voices in the main character’s head that are in all caps, just like Death).
I’ve not read anything about why he set this book on earth (or, as the epilogue notes…a parallel universe earth), so I’m not sure if there’s something more to it than just wanting a change.
And so, no speculating from me, just a review of the book.
This book starts out with a young boy named Mau leaving his island (Nation) and heading out to his “becoming a man” ritual. He completes all of his tasks, and as he plans to return to Nation and get his man-tattoo and “the thing with the sharp knife, where you [don’t] scream,” a huge wave comes and basically ends his world. It destroys the island that he was on, it destroys all of the people on Nation (they were all at the shoreline awaiting his return and were swept away), and it basically destroys everything that Mau has known.
On the same wave, Ermintrude (who, sensibly, prefers the name Daphne), was traveling aboard the Sweet Judy, a ship that was to take her to her father, who will become king once 138 people in line before him die. She was the only survivor when the Sweet Judy crashed on Mau’s island. Because of her lineage, Daphne is in training to be a proper lady and a princess. And, despite her rebellious nature and her love of science, she cannot get the sound of her very proper grandmother’s voice out of her head. The one who tsks her for everything she does. And this is why she is still wearing shoes, pantaloons and 4 other layers of undergarments on a tropical island in the Pelagic Sea where she and Mau are the only survivors.
The plot moves along as you might expect: Mau and Daphne work together to establish a living space. Slowly, other survivors find their way to the island (it’s the biggest on in the area) and, despite not having the man-tattoo, Mau is looked up to as the chief. The island grows bigger and bigger, as more survivors seek shelter there. But more survivors mean more troubles: Grandfather Parrots who regurgitate on your head; a new mother who cannot feed her baby; a soon-to-be mother about to give birth, the pesky island grandfathers who ARE ALWAYS IN MAU’S HEAD, cannibals, even the arrival of other white men (Trousermen as they are called).
As I say, the plot isn’t that intricate (although it gets quite exciting at times), it’s really the ideas that move the story along. And what ideas they are: do gods exist, why do Trousermen have metal and other awesome tools that Nation could use (the quick answer is that it rains a lot in England and Trousermen need something to do); how to fight with death when all seems hopeless; are men’s and women’s roles different; just what is inside the ancestor cave, and just how old are these ancestors; and yet even more about gods.
I enjoyed this story a lot. It was easy to get into the characters (since it only started with two). The new characters come slowly and add new dimensions to the story. But as with all Terry Pratchett stories, it’s the ideas that are really compelling. And as Mau tries to find his way in a new world, without leaving all of tradition behind, it gets the reader to think twice about why we do things.
Oh, and it’s funny too.
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I’m so bummed that you read this book last year and I didn’t read your post and only just read this myself. And what do you know? We both felt the same about it and could have had a rousing book discussion at the time (well, we still can and did a bit).
I hope you posted your review before you read mine!