Being a big fan of melodic rock, I knew I had to get myself Stan Bush’s new album right away. I have also been a big fan of ‘Tha Bush’ since childhood after hearing his tight songs in Transformers: The Movie and Kickboxer.

“Shine” is Stan Bush latest album, which was released mid-2004. It’s been awhile since he has released a proper album, and I was worried if he had maybe changed style or lost his spark, but boy was i wrong. “Shine” proves to be maybe his best work to date, with 10 solid tunes I never get tired of.

The album starts of with “Shine”, the title track, a great rock tune with a good 80’s style message. It moves onto “Falling”, a more moody and dark, slow, rock song, with classic Stan Bush style of singing. These 2 songs really set the mood for the whole cd, and the album never gets repetitive, dull or cheesy, it’s just the good old Stan Bush rock style at it’s best.

The length is another great thing about this CD. Every track is between 2-4 minutes, none of the songs drag or get annoying, so they are perfect for almost every mood and situation (although I would not recommend turning it on while your house is on fire and grandma is melting on the street).

This CD is excellent in every way. The production is top notch, each track is solid and not filler, and the lyrics are, as always with Stan Bush, brilliant, perfect length, and send a great message throughout the whole album. The CD-ROM also features a Video interview and music video of Falling, who both are awesome

So if you like melodic rock, Stan Bush or erections, i strongly recommend this album. It’s a rock masterpiece.

This is a great soundtrack. It was composed by Vince DiCola, the man who did the soundtrack for Rocky IV. He was heavily influenced by keyboard players and progressive rock bands of the seventies. Because of this, Vince loves to work with synthesizers, rock bands, and orchestral bands. All three styles are present in The Transformers soundtrack.

While working on the soundtrack, Vince got to work with a much underrated artist in Stan Bush. Bush performs two superb songs, “The Touch” and “Dare”. Both tracks feature powerful vocals accompanied with great instrumentals. The original Transformers theme was redone with what sounds to be a hair band. Lion is the group responsible for metal-fying the TV anthem. Lion does a good job with the theme. My only complaint is the lead singer sounds a bit on the wimpy side. I want a Transformers theme to be song by someone like Stan Bush. That would have been mint. N.R.G. was another band brought in by Vince to aid in the soundtrack. They preformed “Instruments of Destruction”. This is the heaviest song in the movie. N.R.G. kind of sounds like eighties Alice Cooper mixed with Dokken. It produces a good sound that works well. Aside from Lion and N.R.G., Vince chose to work with the band Spectre General. Spectre General did “Hunger” and “Nothin’s Gonna Stand in Our Way”. On both these songs, Spectre General sounds a lot like W.A.S.P. So, of course, I enjoy both of their songs on the soundtrack.

Vince composed three great instrumental songs for Transformers. “Death of Optimus Prime”, “Escape”, and “Autobot/Decepticon Battle” use synthesizers and orchestras to capture the scenes perfectly. Many of the songs have the Rocky IV sound to them. So if you liked that soundtrack you’ll like these songs too.

In addition to these songs, you get “Dare to be Stupid” by Weird Al Yankovic. This is an alright song that plays well in the movie but on its own is the weakest link on the album. The song itself is greatly out of place with the rest of the tone and theme of the album. For fans of Stan Bush, the Rocky IV soundtrack, or eighties metal, this album would make a great addition to your collection.

This is probably my favorite cartoon movie of all time. Growing up, I loved watching the Transformers on TV and the movie takes it to a whole new level. Everything that is great about the show is magnified in the movie. Here is a run down of the story.

The evil Decepticons have taken over the Autobot home planet of Cybertron, thus forcing the Autobots to take up residence in two nearby moons. Soon a war erupts on Earth between the two sides, leaving Optimus Prime and Megatron tragically lost to the heat of battle. Little does either side know that a powerful and mysterious enemy is after the Autobot Matrix. Enter Unicron. Unicron is a mechanical transformer planet that eats other planets and revives Megatron to do his evil biding. The Matrix is a device that can summon forth the chosen one in the Autobots darkest hour. Unicron knows this and wants to ensure that the Matrix is never used against him.

The story follows different characters down two different paths as the Autobots try and destroy Unicron and the Deceptions. One path follows Hot Rod, the Dinobots, and Kup. These guys get caught up in all kinds of adventures after getting separated from the rest of the Autobots. They have to fend off a killer robot octopus and fight for their lives in a gladiatorial competition. Meanwhile, the Autobots are forced to land their damaged ship on a planet made of trash. Of course then both parties reunite and launch an offensive against Unicron. Overall the story is well written and creative. Any Transformer fan is going to love it.

In the sound department, the person in charge of casting went above and beyond to find great voice talent. This talent includes, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Orson Welles and Eric Idol. Each does a great job for their character. The soundtrack is another highlight about this movie. There is some quality Stan Bush and metal to be found here. I love everything about this movie and fans of eighties cartoons will too.

We Love Katamari is, of course, the sequel to Katamari Damacy. If you haven’t heard of this, read about that game first. The first question that will undoubtedly come to mind about We Love Katamari is “is it as fun/wacky/insane as the original game?” The answer is a definite yes. It retains the same dual analog control scheme and ridiculous sense of humor. The King is even more over the top in this game, and you get a bit more story and humanization of the character as well, through various flashback vignettes. The game is very, very similar to its predecessor, to the point where at times it feels like an expansion pack at times. Is this a bad thing? I really don’t think so. The first game, in my mind, is the perfect example of what games should be like: simple, innovative, funny, and enjoyable to all ages. I’ve seen people addicted to this game that would normally never like video games. It’s a testament to the game’s design and its inspired writing.

On another note, the music in this game is not quite as solid as the original, though it boasts a wider range of music, from M.I.A.-esque Japanese hip-hop to infectiously catchy J-Pop tunes to abstract dark barking medleys of songs from the first game. Saying it isn’t as good as the first game’s music is perhaps the wrong light to cast it in, because it is still one of the best soundtracks in recent game history, and completely sets the mood for the rest of the game.

The missions in this game have also been improved, by and large. The more annoying missions are gone or have changed so that they are much more fun (thought there is still that damn largest cow/bear stage…). In addition, there is a present in each level and a playable cousin (or 2 or 3) to find that makes each level worth replaying multiple times. I found myself playing each level at least 5 times, most of the time just for fun to see what I could collect and if i could better my personal records. This is in part to better designed levels, and larger levels. There is more logical progression, and you don’t find yourself in areas here you are way too small very often, if at all. And luckily, this game is a bit longer than the last, so the game isn’t necessarily beaten in 2 hours. More like 3. In addition, the two-player vs. mode is quite an improvement over the last game, with actual objectives and multiple stages. The two-player co-op is a bit too confusing at times, but it is fun with a group of people. It’s still not really vital, but the multiplayer is certainly much better.

So should you buy it? I am a devoted fan to this game, and I can honestly say that if you liked the first game, that this should be in your collection. It may be 10 dollars more than the first, but at still a cheap price of $30, it’s a deal. It may not still have that initial innovative WTF that the original had, but it is incredibly fun for people of all ages, and guaranteed to make you smile at some point as you mercilessly roll people, cars, houses, and eventually the entire universe into your lonely rolling star.