X Japan - XL - and X-cited for April 13th

It seems like Lollapalooza is the only music festival left to announce their confirmed list of bands. It's definitely upsetting people, since by this time most of the bands should be set in stone. Hopefully they'll figure it all out soon so that the fans can respectably plan out their summers.


I have yet to go to a Lolla, but this year I'm almost certain I will be doing all I can to get to Grant Park, Chicago that weekend. Why is that you might ask? Well, because it has been stated by the band leader Yoshiki himself that X Japan will be joining the line up as a headlining band this year. This is a huge deal since X Japan has never officially played a concert in the U.S.. This will be the only time in 28 years that X Japan has come to the states to play for their U.S. fans. I've been trying to see these guys for years, but the closest they ever got to America was France, and that show got canceled. Anyway, I'm excited, and you should be too. The official article is here:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-27/x-japan-to-move-to-l.a-hold-simple-concert-there

Also check out my previous review of their 1991 album Jealousy, here.



Nintendo just released their newest version of the DS yesterday, the Nintendo DSi XL. This thing is definitely a step up from the previous DSi model, with a HUGE 4.5" screen and a battery life almost rivaling that of the DS Lite. I really don't have much else to say for this product, since I really don't see why Nintendo feels that they need to spit out another one of these every year. I guess I'm still a little bitter about them throwing away the system's GBA backwards compatibility. This was a great feature of both the DS and DS Lite, and some games even rewarded you for using this function while playing a DS game (Pokémon Pearl/Diamond/Platinum for example). Sure, they added the whole DSiWare thing, but as far as the DS goes, the backwards compatibility was its selling point for me.


As far as site updates go, I just posted two brand new reviews, so be sure to check those out with the following links:

Oh, and why am I excited for April 13th? Five words. Year of the Black Rainbow.

Coheed and Dissidia

As some of you probably know, I'm a huge fan of Coheed & Cambria, so you can bet that I'm super pumped for Year of the Black Rainbow. I've already preordered the Deluxe Hardcover Edition and can't wait to get my Black Card! The most recent update on their site was the brand new music video for their new song "The Broken." I like the way they went about making the video in that it encapsulates the dark visuals of The Amory Wars (the basis of the new album). Its nice to see them making videos that are closely related to Claudio's C&C mythos. If anything it definitely helps the fans visualize the story. Here is the video:

As far as video games go, I've been playing Dissidia Final Fantasy a lot lately and I have to say that it was one of the most innovative fighting games I have ever played.

I'm not even sure if it's fair to call it a fighting game. Square Enix has single-handedly created a brand new genre with this release. Sure, at its heart it's a fighting game, but it has many RPG aspects both in its customization parts and its intriguing story of the origin of good and evil. It's also really cool to see the ways the main characters from the Final Fantasy series are portrayed, especially the ones from earlier games that had yet to be given voices or any sort of three dimensional rendering. If you have a PSP, I highly recommend you check this one out.

In other game news, I was recently reading through Nintendo Power and came across some awesome stuff. Sega has finally released information on the new Sonic 4 game, coming to the Wii's WiiWare and Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade this summer, and let me tell you, things look GOOD. Sega company put Takashi Iizuka in charge of the project. If you aren't familiar with the name, Iizuka worked heavily on the production of both Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles (arguably the best games in the series). Nintendo posted an entire interview article in the newest Nintendo Power with Iizuka and lets us know that Sonic 4 seems to be everything the retro fans have been looking for in a Sonic game.

The visuals are fully 2-D with heavy aspects on retro style and the gameplay is returning to the single button layout that the series started with. The music is also being produced by a Sonic Team veteran, Jun Senoue, who worked on some of the music for Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles (some kick ass video game music in my opinion). The only real new aspect that they will be adding to the game is the homing attack which debuted in Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast. However, we are told that this added ability will only help expand on the games return to revolving around platforming. The game will be released in separate episodes, each containing 4 stages with 3 acts. I'm definitely excited and will be nabbing this one the minute its released on WiiWare.

I'm back for good! (seriously now...)

Over the past three months (that I haven't been here), I've been thinking about how to make this site better for visitors. The whole reason I started this was to make a fun community for people who share the same interests, and I feel like we succeeded in that way, but I've come to the conclusion that in order to make this work better, I have to make the site a bit more personable. The way that it had been running before, reviews and updates were written on a strict schedule and for me it felt more like work than anything.

So I've decided to update the site more regularly, not just with reviews, but just stuff I'd like to bring up or talk about; music I'm listening to, games I'm playing, how I'm feeling about upcoming releases, etc.

A few things I've added to the site so far are a navigation bar at the top and bottom of the page. This will take you to the record reviews and game reviews I write, my YouTube channel page (updates soon) and my Twitter page (which I will regularly update from now on, so you know what I'm up to on the site). In the side bar of the site, I've listed upcoming album and video game releases to keep you up to date with the new media coming out. There is also a list of links to some of my favorite review sites (both music and video game related), so feel free to check those out as well.

Let me know how you feel about the changes! Got some ideas on how I can improve the site? Bring it up to me! Hope you enjoy the site, add it to your favorite pages, and please tell your friends!

Back in Business!

Hello anyone who is possibly still around checking my blog out! I'm happy to say that I am back in the swing of things and will be posting weekly reviews yet again. I just posted a new album review on Rodey's Record Reviews that you should all go and check out. It's from a local La Crosse college student named Dan Collins and its guarenteed to rock your socks!

Dan Collins and a Piano - Dormitory



As far as Rodey's Retro Reviews goes, I have not posted a new review yet, but there will be one coming within the week. I will continue doing the written reviews, but I'd like you all to know that I am currently working on some video reviews and getting ready to set up my own channel on YouTube. I'd like to get my first video review posted within the month, so hopefully you guys will be able to catch it soon.

There are a few other executive decisions I've made for the future. I've decided to drop the forum from the site, mainly because it isn't really catching on, and I feel like once I start posting some videos and such, the comments section on YouTube or the blog itself will begin to suffice for people. I've also decided to keep up with my Twitter account. I made a Twitter account a long time ago for Rodey's Reviews, but never kept with it (mainly because I'm not really into the whole Twitter thing), but I figure since the amount of work I'll be putting into the site is going up, it may be a good thing to keep all of you posted on what I'm doing. It will let you know when I'm hard at work or when I'm slacking :). So, if Twitter is your thing, or you just want to know what I'm up to and how things are coming along, check it out here:

www.twitter.com/rodeysreviews

Lastly, I also plan on making the site a little more exciting. I'll recently got myself a digital camera, so I'll be able to document some of the sitings that I feel would interest the people around here. I also plan on spending a little more time checking out the local music/gaming scene in La Crosse and the neighboring areas. Every once in a while I may post some discussions on things I've gone to, possibly interviews with people that I meet with, or just random stuff that I feel is worth discussing.

I really hope you all enjoy the changes I start to make around here and hopefully it get more people to want and check it out. If you know anyone who would enjoy this blog, please tell them about it! If you help spread the word about this blog it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to all, and I'll post again soon!

-Chris

This Week's Shuffle Sunday and Album Review

Two new updates this week, each right on schedule. If you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to check out this week's Shuffle Sunday: Béla Bartók - "Rhapsody No. 1: Lassu"

New album review has also been posted. For the Dream Theater lovers out there, it's Mullmuzzler's Keep It To Yourself

Rodey's Reviews comeback still going strong!

Just posted the newest game review. Hope you enjoy it!

This week's game: Demons to Diamonds on the Atari 2600.

And if you haven't checked it out yet, give the new album review a looksie! This week's was Desireless by Eagle-Eye Cherry.

Rodey's Reviews is running again!

After an extremely busy last month, I am finally ready to start doing some reviewing again! I've got some fun stuff planned for future reviews and posts, and can't wait to get them all up for you to see.

Just posted the new album review. This week's album is Desireless by Eagle-Eye Cherry.

New game review being posted tomorrow (for serious this time)! Look out for it! See you then.

Man, it feels good to be back...