Music Review: Stevie Nicks – In Your Dreams

After a 10 year hiatus from recording–which included multiple tours both solo and with a reunited Fleetwood Mac–Stevie Nicks returned to the studio and released “In Your Dreams” on May 3rd, 2011. At 63, does Nicks still have the charisma and voice to take us away on a gypsy journey through song? Find our after the jump!

Tracklist:

1.	“Secret Love”	Stevie Nicks	Stevie Nicks	3:15
2.	“For What It’s Worth”	Stevie Nicks	Michael Campbell	4:32
3.	“In Your Dreams”	Stevie Nicks	Dave Stewart	3:58
4.	“Wide Sargasso Sea”	Stevie Nicks	Dave Stewart	5:36
5.	“New Orleans”	Stevie Nicks	Neale Heywood	5:34
6.	“Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)”	Stevie Nicks	Stevie Nicks	5:26
7.	“Annabel Lee”	adapted fromEdgar Allan Poe	Stevie Nicks,Waddy Wachtel	5:58
8.	“Soldier’s Angel”(with Lindsey Buckingham)	Stevie Nicks	Stevie Nicks	5:16
9.	“Everybody Loves You” (with Dave Stewart)	Stevie Nicks, Dave Stewart	Dave Stewart	5:16
10.	“Ghosts Are Gone”	Stevie Nicks	Dave Stewart	6:06
11.	“You May Be The One”	Stevie Nicks	Dave Stewart	5:26
12.	“Italian Summer”	Stevie Nicks	Dave Stewart	4:38
13.	“Cheaper Than Free” (with Dave Stewart)	Stevie Nicks	Dave Stewart	3:38

Wow. Where to begin with this massive tracklist! Lets start right off the bat with highlights and lowlights.

Highlights:

• Annabel Lee
• Soldier’s Angel
• For What Its Worth
• Everybody Loves You
• Cheaper Than Free
• Moonlight (A Vampires Dream)
• Secret Love

Lowlights:

• The rest of the album (to be explained)

After 40 years in the music business, there is no doubt Stevie Nicks has a certain style that will probably never be seen again. While it could be attributed to her years of drug using, I like to think its just who she always has been. She is very mystical…magical, if you will. The gypsy of our time.

Listening to this CD, Nicks takes you on a journey through her world. From the opening track “Secret Love” to the closing track “Cheaper than Free”. Every track has that style that we have become accustomed to when listening to a Nicks record.

“Annabel Lee” is a great musical version of the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name while “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” tells the story of two ill fated lovers,much in the Twilight vein. “Soldier’s Angel” is a particularly moving song which Nicks wrote after visiting a VA Hospital a few years ago.

The album falls short in a few areas lyrically, but the music remains strong throughout. While the other tracks not listed in the highlights section are enjoyable, I didn’t find myself repeating them over and over again like I did the others.

Overall, the album gets a Thumbs Up from me. Stevie Nicks manages to bring back that familiar style found not only on the Fleetwood Mac records, but her solo efforts as well. Definitely check this one out guys!

 

Music Review: Yellowcard – When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes

 

Oh Yellowcard…The music of my teenage years. Churning out some great indie-rock in the early part of the 21st century with hits like Ocean Avenue and Back Home, Yellowcard was a constant in my high school iPod playlists. Does their latest CD “When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes” take me back to the days of my youth, or trip over its metaphorical untied shoe laces? Find out after the jump!

Tracklist:

1.	“The Sound of You and Me”	4:36
2.	“For You, and Your Denial”	3:33
3.	“With You Around”	3:01
4.	“Hang You Up”	4:02
5.	“Life of Leaving Home”	3:24
6.	“Hide”	3:12
7.	“Soundtrack”	3:35
8.	“Sing for Me”	3:54
9.	“See Me Smiling”	3:50
10.	“Be the Young”	3:56
Total length:		37:03

After countless hours of music, sold out tours, and a two year hiatus, It’s hard to believe that this is Yellowcard’s seventh album as a group (including EP’s). When they first announced this album in late 2010, I’ll admit I was skeptical. This wasn’t like when The Eagles got back together after 14 years apart and took the world by storm. This was a moderately successful band reuniting with new focus. I was excited, but cautious. Their time apart really shows in this record, as it tries to pull itself in a few different directions throughout track 1-10, but it comes together, almost as if bookends between the first and last track.

Highlights of the album include “Hang You Up” and “Sing for Me” while songs like “Hide” and the albums opener “The Sound of You and Me” left me wondering why they even bothered.

Yellowcard, overall has achieved what they set out to do; create an album for their fans old and new to enjoy. Most importantly, Yellowcard is back. For good, it seems. You won’t find me complaining about that one bit.

They say good things come to those who wait, and after 2 years, it’s great to see Yellowcard together again. Their songs just resonate with you in a way few bands and artists can achieve. I look forward to more from them.

 

Penny Arcade Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta Impressions

Penny Arcade’s Mike “Gabe” Krahulik posted his impressions from the SWTOR game testing program. He’s been in testing for about a month as part of the “friends and family” invites and received approval from BioWare to share his thoughts:

Mike ‘Gabe’ Krahulik said:

First of all, a lot has been made about the new “fourth pillar” of story telling. Is it really all they are making it out to be? In my personal opinion, yes, it really is a big deal and let me tell you why. In the short time I’ve been playing SW:TOR I have already given more thought to my character than I ever did in all the years I played WOW. I’ve had to make hard choices with my Bounty Hunter that have made me honestly think about who he is and what he’s like.

 

You can hit the link above to see his full article. I was really impressed and it made me even more excited for the game to release sometime this year (hopefully).

Stay classy,

FreeBird

Rockstar Games Announces L.A. Noire for PC – This Fall.

June 23rd, 2011:

Rockstar Games has announced that this fall, Rockstar Leeds will present the PC version of L.A. Noire to the masses.

The full press release is below:

New York, NY – June 23, 2011 – Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), and Team Bondi Pty. Ltd., are proud to announce that L.A. Noire will be arriving this fall for the PC.

“L.A. Noire is a new type of game that makes players see through a detective’s eyes in 1940s Los Angeles,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “Its unique blend of story, action and crime solving will be perfect to play on PC.”

The PC version of L.A. Noire was developed by Rockstar Leeds. It will run on a wide range of PCs and feature customization, including keyboard remapping and gamepad functionality to both optimize and customize the performance and user experience. Along with increased fidelity and improved graphical enhancements, the PC version will feature 3D support for an even greater sense of interaction and immersion within a painstakingly detailed 1940s Los Angeles.

Developed by Team Bondi in conjunction with Rockstar Games, L.A. Noire is a crime thriller set in post World War II Los Angeles. As Detective Cole Phelps, players must search for clues, interrogate suspects and chase down criminals to solve a series of cases inspired by real world incidents. As he rises through the ranks of the LAPD, Phelps comes face-to-face with the corrupt heart of Los Angeles: from fallen starlets to double-dealing police officers and the vast reaches of the criminal underworld – and finally, the darkness of his own personal demons.

Utilizing a brand new type of facial capture technology called MotionScan, L.A. Noire breathes unprecedented life into character performances and was honored as an official selection of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

Since its release on May 17, L.A. Noire has shipped approximately 4 million units worldwide to date. The game was the number one best-selling video game for three consecutive weeks in the U.K. and the fastest-selling new video game IP in U.K. history*. In addition, L.A. Noire was the highest-selling game in the U.S. for the month of May according to The NPD Group.

L.A. Noire is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and will release this fall for the PC at retail and digitally.

For more information, log onto www.rockstargames.com/lanoire.

Sounds like this is going to make for a great holiday gift for all the PC gamers out there. As L.A. Noire is one of my favorite Xbox games this year.

FreeBird.

So…What happened?!

Hey all,

As you can see from the date of the last post, it has been a LONG, LONG time since I last got to writing for FreeBirdTech. I just want to take a few moments to bring you up to speed on what has been going on with my life, and how the site will move forward.

I recently got a new job that has kept me VERY busy in real life, with very little time to update my blog/sites as I would normally have seen fit. However, now that I have fully settled into my job, I will have more time to dedicate to this site, and my dedicated Star Wars: The Old Republic fansite TorSpace.

I will most likely be focusing my discussions/posts here will be mobile techonology based, as well as general gaming based.

With that…Lets get things started once more! FreeBirdTech, your number one source for your daily dose of gaming and tech news, reviews, and comment lives on!

FreeBird

 

The First FBT Video

There you have it folks, in all its glory!

More to come by the weekend, I’ll hopefully be shooting my Xoom video review and also an iPad 2 Event reaction.

Stay classy!

FreeBird

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More Apple News: Three Surprises That Could Be Announced Tomorrow

While many of us are awaiting tomorrow eagerly, to finally see what Apple’s next iPad offering will bring, some are more looking forward to what might be announced.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek sees the following to be announced along with the unveiling of the iPad 2 on March 2.

* Preview of iOS 5 is possible as Apple looks to continue to push the integration across multiple mobile devices for content, commerce and user experience.

* The analyst sees an outside chance of Apple unveiling new cloud based services, including revamp of Mobile Me to include remote media storage, integration with iTunes and other features.

* Misek believes there is also a chance that iTunes video and/or audio subscriptions show themselves. However, the analyst thinks it is highly unlikely as he continues to believe content providers are the stumbling block.

I would like to see any of these three, if not all, announced or previewed tomorrow. Only time will tell…

Apple Hints at a Cheaper iPhone? Prepaid?

When interviewed today, Apple’s COO Tim Cook (almost) revealed a cheaper (possibly) prepaid iPhone. Cook said that “We don’t want apple products to just be for the rich,  but for everyone.”
And “We understand that price is a big concern in the prepaid market.”

It definitely is an interesting idea; a prepaid iPhone. The only question in my mind is what features, if any, would it lack that a contract iPhone has?

Hopefully the answers come soon. Maybe even at the event on the 2nd.

Stay classy.

Freebird

Motorola Xoom Review!

 

The Morotola Xoom

 

The Motorola Xoom was released to the masses via Verizon Wireless on Feburary 24th, 2011. The first tablet running Android Honeycomb 3.0 had a lot of hype to live up to. Did it? Well……mostly.

Let me say that the Xoom is amazingly fast, thanks to its Tegra 2 chip. I did experience some lag when typing on the keyboard, but it looks like an OTA update is on the way to fix this. Its an amazingly slick experience and browsing feels as good as tablet browsing can. The screen is gorgeous, and watching movies on the device is amazing, especially blu ray rips. The camera, while awkward does a decent job. (Pictures will be posted later). Video capture is smooth, but compared to others, the color seems a bit washed out. Video editing is lacking and could use an update to fix the issues it has.

While the Xoom is an amazing device, both fast and powerful, it does have a few issues:

 

The first issue out of the gate is the lack of tablet specific apps.

While most of the apps that run on android phones will run on the tablet, they either look awful, or crash. The upscaling however, is done better than on the iPad. In comparison, the iPad shipped with 40,000 native tablet apps. The Xoom? 16. No, that’s not a typo. 16 native tablet apps. 4 of which were games. Since apps are what make a tablet fly or fall, the Xoom and honeycomb will need more tablet specific apps. However, we know these are coming. So in a few months I hope it is a non-issue.

The Second issue is the lack of Flash support at launch.

One of the major selling points of the Xoom, and a reason Motorola’s CEO used to justify the high price point was the fact that it could play flash content natively without a work around like the iPad. This turned out to be a half truth. As right now, there is no native flash support for Flash 10.1 on the Xoom. While this is more Adobe’s fault than Motorola’s or Google’s, I still believe that if you are making this a major selling point for your device, you might want to make sure it works out the box!

The Third issue; the lack of an functioning SD card slot, and the need to send in your device for the 4G upgrade.

It seems to me like Motorola or Google wants us to be treated like cats…they give us all these great features, but then hang them on a string just out of reach. I imagine the conversation would go like this:

Moto: “Whats that? You want and SD card slot? SURE!”

Consumer: “YAY!”

Moto: “Oh….by the way….It wont function until the 4G update.”

Customer: *grumble grumble* “Well, when and how can we get the 4G update? Will it be easy?”

Moto: “YES! Well…..not really. You see, we have no way of doing the update without you shipping the device back to us. In about 12 or so easy steps and…you have to pay for shipping…And it won’t be available for another month or two”

Consumer: /ragequit.

This is NOT a good business practice in my opinion and in fact, might push some people TO Apple, rather than away.

Now, it may seem from reading this, that I hate the Xoom. Let me go on record and state that I don’t. I loved it. I think its beautiful, and what it does right, it does amazingly well. However, it has a lot of issues. I found myself bored within a few hours, and wanting more…More apps, more content, more ability, more space. Just…More.

I think that Honeycomb is a great OS, I love Android, I love the idea of Android. Hell, I have a Droid 2 Global. However…It has a long way to go before it reaches iOS levels.

Stay classy.

FreeBird

Follow me on Twitter.

 

 

Google Restores Gmail Accounts to 1/3rd of Affected Users

Finally! We can stop worrying about our accounts resetting….sort of.

Google announced today that it restored lost Gmail accounts

Which they claim only affected .02% of users. However, there really is no guarantee that this wont happen again. But it is nice to see some swiftness in this issue, as Google stated they fully expect all accounts to be running again within 12 hours. As for the lost messages, there has been no word on what exactly happened or whether they will be restored along with the accounts.

Stay classy

FreeBird

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