one piece short of legoland

Oh No Ono "Yes" is a fun, full-on 1980s throwback. The songs are so fucking catchy and I'm ready to invent a few dances after one listen. And the lyrics are appropriately awesome. Like in the... wow, almost Gary Numan meets ELO meets Supertramp "Ba Ba Baba Ba Ba Well Anyway."

DEPECHE MODE live at Rock am Ring 2006
A very disappointing performance, I felt. Dave Gahan must be back on the smack because he's just annoying onstage, slipping into an apparent impression of the cockney nutjob character from The Mighty Boosh every so often. Um, crossed with Ozzy circa the early 1980s. My man needs to go into rehab, get with a vocal coach and get with someone about developing a stage presence. I tried to look away but it didn't work, I could still hear him. He was way off pitch for most of the show. Martin Gore fared only slightly better, but he would pretty much have to in comparison. The stage itself was neato enough but the fake UFO wraparound things on the keyboard risers pretty much hid away any other elements of human musical activity. And I'm actually a proponent of electronic music. I personally have no problem with bands that use live sequences onstage. The drummer was, um, wow. Really good but I don't think ideally suited for that type of music. Or, what I assume the type of music is. Electronic? And what does Andrew Fletcher do exactly? The song selection was boring. And the new arrangements of some of the old stuff were, um, god, like nu-metal. Distorted power chord guitar.... even if it is Martin Gore playing it, it still ruins the effect. Ah yes, except for "I Feel You," which of course has been covered by many euro death metal bands. Their one chance to rock the fuck out and what did they do? They did nothing. The chorus was the same volume & intensity as the verse, bleh. And the filming, I have a beef and a half with the gimmicky, clever filming. I just want to see the band and the stage. Two things I never want to see are super slow motion closeups of sections of the lighting rig and more than a couple of audience shots. This fucker was almost 50/50 audience and band in spots. So, fuck that. This video is good for what it is. Unfortunately, just like Motley Crue's set at Rock am Ring last summer, it just highlights the many flaws.