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DJ SHARKEY pulls out his best tracks & creates album!

ALBUM: SHARKEY - HARD LIFE
DATE RELEASED: 1998
LABEL: REACT (now resist)
CAT#: REACTCD131

01. Sharkey - Death By Stereo (feat. Marc Smith)
02. Sharkey - Even Angels Fade Away
03. Sharkey - Distant Dreams
04. Sharkey - The Awakening
05. Sharkey - Hard Life
06. Sharkey - Product of Society
07. Sharkey - E-Nuff (Feat. Druid)
08. Sharkey - Pain Killer
09. Sharkey - You Complete Me
10. Sharkey - Forever Flying
11. Sharkey - Product of Society (Hardcore Society Mix)
12. Sharkey - Funk D'Hardcore (feat. MC Sharkey)

Now I'm not being biased about this, out of my 10 years of harcore enthusiasm, 200+ hardcore vinyls and endless hardcore compilations, this IS the best item of merchandise I have layed my hands on. So good it goes on in my car every day to work!

You have to be a Hardcore enthusiast to even start to understand this album, but throw in a hard life background (like my rough childhood) and this CD hits the spot. Sharkey's track selection include really well worked nu-energy style hardcore welded together with trancecore, and if that wasn't enough they compell really decent lyrics; no cheesey happy hardcore or pointless beats anywhere.

Released in 1998 just after the Product of Society singles, hardcore enthusiasts may presume the tracks are cheesy like they generally were in 1998, but I feel this album is quite professionally structured compared to the tracks you hear on the Bonkers compilations AND it sounds like something you'd hear from this era of hardcore, only better! I'm suprised it wasn't in the top 40... then again when I bought it from Currys it was in the Albums section, so may have been at the time!

The album also resides a structure a normal commercial album would have - the tracks are not mixed together and run after each other nicely. There is a professionally designed sleeve and front cover. The tracklist includes 2 mixes of one of Sharkey's favoured (and im my opinion the best track he has produced) - "Product Of Society" - a track with AWESOME lyrical vocals from "DSG" making it into a real track about how we are all just products of society trying to find who we want to be. It sends you there!

A genious approach to welding hardcore and trancecore together produces other featured tracks such as "Even Angels Fade Away" and "Distant Dreams", holding a more trancy feel to send you trippin' through the hard times but still with a thumping non-cheesy hardcore style. Very clever.

Overall the album reflects the name "Hard Life" really well and grabs you by the scruff of the neck and talks to you in a way no other hardcore album does. Sharkey is truely the master of Nu-Energy Hardcore. If you are a Hardcore enthusiast and crave some REALLY good beats, get your filthy hands on this gem if you can; it's pretty rare. Support your DJ and support yourself!

Ravenstorm

War Of The Worlds 2005 - Not what people are thinking!

PLOT (for those who haven't seen it)
As normal life prevails for Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), suddenly without any warning whatsoever the Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines with no mercy and engage merciless combat upon arrival. Ray must protect himself and his family as they fight for survival.

INTRODUCTION
YOU CAN NOT slag this film off until you know the history of the War of the Worlds. It was not meant to be an action thriller on par with Terminator 2 and Independence Day. There have been 4 versions of this story. The original 1898 HG Wells Novel, then the 1938 radio broadcast by Orsen Wells. Thirdly the Bryon Haskin film version in 1953, and now the Spielberg version in 2005. Believe it or not, the Spielberg version is the most accurate of them all in terms of the novel! I am basing this review on the documentary of the Spielberg version on the DVD, so it is legit and not just my own opinion.

ORIGINAL ASPECT SET FROM 1898 NOVEL
If you just watched it for the action and thriller aspects, then you probably wouldn't have had a very high opinion of it. This is because Spielberg wanted to portray the movie how HG Wells originally intended it to be in his original 1898 novel "The War Of The Worlds". This was in fact SET FROM FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE. An individual's account of how the world falls apart around them when extra-terrestrial life suddenly makes an appearance into everyday life. Notice in the Spielberg version how there are no flash news reports and 3rd person perspectives (such as the war scene) as seen previously in the 1953 Bryon Haskin version (the one where the martians are floating cobra-style warships). Infact I would challenge you to point out any bits that are "extra-Tom-Cruise", scenes that don't involve him. That is why you may have thought it was under-par and too much centred around Tom, simply because thats how it was meant to be!! And in that light I deem it a more scary and realistic experience!

GRAPHICS & ENVIRONMENT SETTING
Since the world has been nurished with high-tech ultra fast computer technology, the computer generated parts of the movie seem very real and spectacular. Much of the machinery, weather effects and ground-cracking (as seen in the beginning) was done in CG. Spielberg wanted to keep it as realistic as possible in terms of everyday life. For eg, in the war scene over the hill, it was cruicial that the lighting was realistic and not over the top. So instead of having loads of greens and reds and blues and yellows flashing away reflecting the alien invaders, he would have a simple bright white strobe flickering away (for the bombs and explosions) and then a quick flash of green or purple. This gives the viewer a sence there there is something out-of-the-ordinary present within this real environment. In my own opinion I think hes achieved this remarkably throughout the film; I watch a lot of Sci-Fi films and this one has made me believe I am in that environment experiencing it from first person.

GUEST APPEARANCE!
If you have watched the 1953 version of WOTW you will remember Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) and Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson). They make a cameo appearance as Rachael and Robbie's grandparents that appear right at the end of the 2005 edition.

Good all rounder hardcore album, but not Excellent

This Happy Hardcore album, as you can see from the tracklisting, is action packed full of classics and floorfillers. It is mixed by Sy & Unknown, the unsung scratch masters, so expect most of the tracks on here to have scratching samples on them (as they do).

Although the choice of tracks is splended for the 2002 era of hardcore, the compilation will probably dissapoint a few. In order to fit so many tracks on each CD they have cut out large sections of a few releases, which irritates the DJs of us who know how important the lead ins and breakdowns are! Also, I find each track is over and done with too quickly and can't really get into any of them! Bear this in mind when purchasing this album, it may not bother some but it bothered me a little! Still, a really good album to add to your collection!


corvus*corax

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