May 2004 Ratings System:
++ Christian - made specifically by Christians for Christians
+ Secular - but contains nothing offensive to most Christians, probably made by Christians trying to exert influence in secular media.
M Mature content. Not necessarily offensive, but parents should be careful before allowing exposure to children and pre-teens.
X Mature content. For mature teens, firm in their convictions and morals, who have received much parental guidance.
XX Contains very mature, problematic content. Parents should seriously consider restricting exposure to teens.
XXX Completely offensive. Not only should teens be restricted, but adults may want to question their own exposure.
WUGGIE'S MUSIC, MEDIA AND MORE!
Ratings System:
++ Christian - made specifically by Christians for Christians
+ Secular - but contains nothing offensive to most Christians, probably made by Christians trying to exert influence in secular media.
M Mature content. Not necessarily offensive, but parents should be careful before allowing exposure to children and pre-teens.
X Mature content. For mature teens, firm in their convictions and morals, who have received much parental guidance.
XX Contains very mature, problematic content. Parents should seriously consider restricting exposure to teens.
XXX Completely offensive. Not only should teens be restricted, but adults may want to question their own exposure.
Remember, my reviews are strictly my opinion, and no substitute for your good judgment
Various Artists / Now That's What I Call Music! 15 / XX
I just loved those old K-Tel collections. Remember when you could get 10 or 15 of the biggest hits of the past year on one LP for $10? That's why I would love to recommend this disc. It includes some good hits from Sarah Connor, Jessica Simpson ('With You' - reviewed last month), No Doubt and others that I find quite good. Heck, ever the Britney Spears track isn't one of her most suggestive songs. So I'd really love to recommend this disc. But I can't. Mixed in with the good is the bad. Songs from Ludacris, Blink 182, Chingy, and others lace the disc with profanities (some un-carefully bleeped out, others left in) and sexually suggestive lyrics. In Chingy's Holidae In, the rapper invites the subject to his hotel room with four friends and then the wonderful line: "Feel on each other and sip on some Hen". That's Hennessey liquor, by the way.
What this compilation brings to the forefront is the fact that it is just a mirror for the face of music over the last year. Some good, some bad, some really bad. Trouble is that it's all mixed up and presented as normal. MTV will play a benign video from Sheryl Crow, and then follow it up with a cancer such as Nick Cannon's 'Gigolo'. But then again, since you've been reading this column, you probably don't still have MTV and kids in the same house, right? But the radio is not much better. Don't count on Congress and the FCC to clean up the airwaves to your Christian parent standards. Please supervise your kids' music and media consumption!
Guns 'n Roses / Greatest Hits / M
Surprise! This disc is pretty clean. While the band has that raw edgy image, and certainly knew how to swear on many of their songs, it is an interesting phenomenon that they kept their biggest hits clean. SO, if I were reviewing any individual Guns CD, I would give it an X or two, this Greatest Hits package is quite decent. Axel and the boys are suing Geffen records over this release. It is 'unauthorized' so to speak, because the band didn't get input on the song selection. They claim that if they had, the line-up of songs would be quite different. Score one for the record execs who gave us a disc Wuggie can recommend to a new generation of metal heads who want to discover the premier hard rock band of the 90's.
Maroon 5 / Songs About Jane / X
The band's specialty seems to be thinly veiled innuendo to sexual situations and acts, but nothing in your face. You could look at most of the innuendo as completely innocent, or as completely filthy. Here's a line from their hit single, 'This Love': "Tried my best to feed her appetite / Keep her coming every night / So hard to keep her satisfied." There are examples on every song. Your call.
Eamon / I Don't Want you Back / XXX
Don't be fooled by the fact that they play the title track on the radio: "F*** It (I Don't Want you back)" The bleeps are on purpose poorly done. Come on, is a song like this really 'clean' just because of some bleeps? (21 bleeps, actually) If I took a centerfold and drew some circles on it with a sharpie, would it be good to hang on the Youth Room wall? Absolutely Not.
Hoobastank / The Reason / M
Every once in a while an artist comes along with a CD full of great music that touches hearts, identifies with teenager's emotions, doesn't drag them down, isn't dark and depressing, is totally clean, and has a really cool name. Thank you, Hoobastank!
Jet / Get Born / XXX
I don't even know where to start with this one. In the single, 'Cold Hard B****', the singer blatantly denounces romance in favor of sexual acts. To be honest, I didn't really dig any deeper on this disc. Did I really need to?
Shinedown / Leave a Whisper / XX
Very sadly, this band is capitalizing on the tendency of teens to sometimes wonder what life is all about, to wonder about their purpose. Sometimes teens will be tempted to think that there is no purpose and that it would have been better if they had not been born. Most teens have a healthy support system of parents and friends, and these feelings quickly pass. Enter Shinedown, who, in the quest of the almighty dollar has decided to prey on these feelings, put them into words, set them to music, and feed them back to our teens. A few lines from their single, '45':
"And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45 / No real reason to accept the way things have changed / Send a message to the unborn child /
Keep your eyes open for a while / In a box high up on the shelf, left for you, no one else /
There's a piece of a puzzle known as life / Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight."
Come on guys, a prophet will be shown by his fruit. Is this the best contribution you can make to society?