Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead
Hullo,
In our continuing series of songs being reviewed on GarageBand.com, we have made our way through the review cycle of "Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead" here is all the info about the song and the reviews that it received. Reviewers are also able to give extra credit to certain elements of a song, a list of the extra credit awards will be shown after all the reviews. See you next time with, "Back From Nebraska".
Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead(6:30)
Score 2.4 out of 5.0
#176 of 192 in Current Experimental Rock
#1245 of 1467 in All-Time Experimental Rock
History
Jeff-Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar Mick-Drums Scott-Keys
Hark! Hark! The Newsboy's Dead-A lazy man's song for the animal rights activist in you? Or an honest man's anguished soul searching in a crushing world of information overload and moral ambiguity?
I'm just a man of virtue
I'm just a victim of circumstance
cirmcumstance
Not circumcision
got them all in this condition
The cattle all have guilty consciences
trapped themselves in a razor wire fence
This song starts on quiet drums and a guitar line that quickly changes up to put some of the wet and sideways into the groove. Everything else comes right along with it. The Buddha All-Stars fill up your ears and settle in at the top of your spine for the rest of this track; a straight ahead rock groove, not afraid to get down and invite you to play in the dirt.
Lyrics
Look to the eastern skies
Of the west
And throw it all away
The cattle all came down today
We didn't have a word to say
I'm just a man of virtue
I'm just a victim of circumstance
Circumstance, not circumcision
Got them all in this condition
The cattle all have guilty consciences
Trapped themselves in a razor wire fence
So Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead
The cadillac ran over his head
And no one got their papers today
Some other day we'll get the news
And read through it and choose
Which of the cattle we want to save
Because a razor wire fence is hard to climb
Besides I just don't have the time
The cattle are my friends
Yes cattle are my friends
Yes cattle are my friends to the end
Reviews
wow long
didn't catch me immediately, definitely out there. With this kind of stuff I look for where melodies are innovative, sounds are ground breaking, or just plain - does this hold me? I didn't get into this. Vocals and story line too slow and too long.
- UVeez from Piedmont, California on 5Jun2005
messy
I think the opening rough guitar mix is not really effective. I really think you should try and remix this and put it back up. The constant guitar solo is very distracting. The bass drum is non-existant. This seems like hard rock to me; not really alternative. I am not finding structure to hold on to. Good luck.
- spiriteq from Royal Oak, Michigan on 5Jun2005
garbage
fuck this is weird music.. i dont really like it at all..the singing throws it off...im sorry but I find it hard to say anything good about this..sorry
- KayGee from Espanola, Ontario, Canada on 5Jun2005
rhythm and/or melody makes a song
Do I seriously have to review this? I pray you guys aren't serious about this. I'm sorry, but this is just terrible. No offense, just my tastes. The recording is awful. The guitars sound you've been playing for about half a day. Drums are rarely on beat, if at all. Singing (talking) is both boring and annoying at the same time. All that being said, you sound like you're having fun jamming so I like that, but I don't understand putting it on garageband. If you're serious, at least get a halfway decent recording and try to come up with some kind of rhythm or melody. Yeah, rhythm and melody sounds good. Best of luck.
- tylerjakes from Minneapolis, Minnesota on 4Jun2005
Not my style.
I like the atonal guitar intro, good start. I can't pin my finger on what bothers me about the rest of the song, possibly the guitar tone, or the bland vocals. It's not bad at all, but I can't get into it.
- undoingofdavidw from Dallas, Texas on 3Jun2005
classic rock goes way out
Atonal chromatic classic rock guitar sound random-riff-searching gets us started. Enter noise and stock rhythm section doing a 1/2 step mideast/indian chordal modulation vibe under wordless wolfy whine of falsetto lead vocal, (warming up). Guitar continues strong noodling, then drops back to noteless chunka rhythm, making room for the high vocal evolution down into crooney Sinatraesque slooow bluesy rappish melodic improv. Victim of virtue in uncircumsized circumstance? Next, guitar works back in with strong King Crimson m6 riffing, and the wolf returns for a bit. Frank croons some more, largely unrelated to key of music, but smooth, real smooth. Let's jam, at and over the edge.... you never know what we might discover...
- MikeOso from Atlanta, Georgia on 3Jun2005
Not for everyone
Not for everyone but I kinda liked it. It had a primal energy to it. Parts of it were really powerful and emotive and then other sections lost that energy. The hight vocal notes were reminisant of those old 50's horror movies. The whole song gave me a bit of a chill. I'm giving it 5 stars cause it scared me.
- The_Minors from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 2Jun2005
Beer anyone?
guitar and drums...is that a casio? Little wandering at the moment... Anything gonna happen? Guitar sounds a bit out of tune. Sounds like the guitar is laying the foundation, it should be the drums and or bass. Vocals drone, not into it. Sounds like a drunken jam caught on tape. Very drunken.
- remydelamora from Hollywood, California on 2Jun2005
finally, some experimental
this is actually a bit experimental unlike alot of other songs posted in this genre, i appreciate experimenting with music however i dont really like the screeching and vocals all that much.
- riznich from Manitowoc, Wisconsin on 1Jun2005
Uh, I dont call that anything
Said Frankie Lee with a smile. Frankenstein was an experiment, this is just really bad. But if you cant play or sing, well, you still shouldnt do this.
- gnosticguy from Timberlake, Virginia on 1Jun2005
Can on Prozac
A very feeble attempt at making krautrock, this was more funny than it was good.( But quite funny though) The vocals remind me a little of Jim Morrison, when he was very drunk, and played in half tempo.
- Julianscave from Oslo, Norway on 1Jun2005
review
interesting. i like the weird cultural thing that you have going here with the guitar slash...sitar? i like the drums. whatever it is that comes in at about 1:00 scared the hell out of me. its a tad loud. i like the guitar when he starts singing. Im not totally digging the lyrics but the music and the way he sings is cool. he sounds under the influence of something. but thats not always a bad thing. i like it. nice job.
- goodtimes7eleven from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on 31May2005
Off-Period
It sounds like you're purposefully fucking up here at the beginning, let's hope so--now the drums are catching on, and there's a strange metallic ambiance rising in the background. Okay, I liked all that, I'm glad that was method and not madness, or stupidity for that matter. I like the vocals too: unpredictable, experimental, yet somehow broken-in, very bassy. Of course, this is not listenable in case you couldn't figure that out for yourself, but music doesn't have to be, it just must keep expanding--Sonic Youth should've taught everyone that by now. Of course, they know how to put out marketable albums that allow them to fuck around for off-periods, you know, noise phases. The sloppiness is good in my book but I often feel alone in that respect, so good luck on garageband. I like alot of the guitar, it maintains originality throughout, a little Neil Youngish if you wanna go overboard, but overall this is incoherent to the casual listener (and plus you're paired with a totally badass song).
- Middies from Chattanooga, Tennessee on 31May2005
Back to the drawing board (or sanatorium).
Lo-fi garage type sound at the beginning. The ominious din in the backround kept my interest for a while, but when the vocals kicked in, I could no longer take this song seriously. Maybe that's the point, but this is a difficult feat to perform if a musician doesn't want to alienate a mainstream audience (this is my generous interpretation). Mostly this tune came off as grating and incomprehensible. I usually force myself to listen to an entire tune at least once. But not in this case.
- squidpool from New York on 31May2005
Hmmm...
I think there is a difference between exerimental and non-musical. But the fuzz bass is the shit. AAAAAhhhhh.
- Wevans from Austin, Texas on 30May2005
rulers of darkness
Very good vocals but way too high in the mix.The guitars were okay but you might wanna add a chorus pedal or something to flesh it out. Overall , a pretty cool song - reminds me of Nikki Sudden with maybe some Birthday Party thrown in. The mix was a little off but no big deal.
- harrysson from Hagerstown, Maryland on 30May2005
Too soon to see the light of day
The song seems to ramble and meander aimlessly. It sounds like a rehearsal room recording.
There are some raw, out of tune vocals. There doesn't seem to be any unity between the words and music. As a writer, I would probably count this as one part of an incomplete song concept.
- LoveIsReal from Cyberspace, Canada on 29May2005
??
What the hell. That is the most nonsensical trumpet playing is ever heard, hopefully its a just an intro to somthing good. not really...I do like how u create an excellent mood for a bout thirty seconds with that weird ghost sounding section at about 120. Thats pretty much the only part of the song that i liked. The singing was bad and the music was totally out of sink. It has potential, if u just decided to make it less ridiculas and more technically sound
- CraZyPickleZ from Edmonton, Alberta on 29May2005
Wow
Wow that was bizzare, at first i didnt knwo weather i hated it or loved it, and then i liked it. I cant really say anything, im speechless.
- ludofortuna from San Antonio, Texas on 28May2005
are we all together?
OK we are in the experimental section not the local guitar shop. The sound quality is not good. It's a bit unfortunate that you can get realistic sounds with vst instruments but I'm afraid it's the way of the world and people just go off what they hear. Loved the vocal very Jim Morrison complete with poetic lyrics. I can't hear the bass very well. The vocal really is the only clear quality sound. Sorry guys experimentation for me is about breaking new ground. I felt you were all doing different things that didn't have too much to do with eachother. Brave though, you are looking to break new ground, but you still need a hook.
- sirhcjacks from Manchester, United Kingdom on 28May2005
is good
i really like the dirty sound in the begining. it's like i'm right there. a little too loose on the whole thing. but there is defenatly something there. and the singer should do less drugs a drink less booze. anyway keep it up guys
- moscas from Los Angeles, California on 26May2005
about awareness
I'm not sure if there is any awareness behind the makings of this and why it has been shared with us. But sometimes it can be a good thing to step back to make an objective observation of what we do and why we do it. If a black hole of chaotic, isolated angst is what was intended to be shared here, it has been a success!
- ninaswan from Oslo, Norway on 25May2005
Fun!
I'm liking this stuff. It's chaotic, has moments where I think it's going to become perfectly coherent, then it goes off into times where it's got sort of an insane melody going. That extremely low tone is reminding me of some of the music from the early Star Trek movies, sounds like this is the bass line! It's cool, has a very ominous thing going. This is like Primus mixed with Yes, very intriguing sound. The lyrics are very bizarre, but still interesting. The song has a pretty nifty groove to it, seems like it has a consistent flow amongst the chaos. The guitarist really draws out some notes, making for some really cool expression. The drums are solid and played nicely. Nice outro too... Good work.
- bhodges01 from Stillwater, Oklahoma on 25May2005
Drunken jazz jam
Some strange sounds on this one. The guitar sounds very horn like which kinda fits the freeform jazz feel. Sounds like when me and my buddies get all lit up and start banging around on our instruments. This song is all over the place and not very listenable but it holds attention on the novelty of strangeness.
- ApocalypseCow from Toms River, New Jersey on 25May2005
Yuck
Those opening notes for the singer hurt. You could tell. Sing in your range man! The guitar seems okay, but you are playing by yourself. You are supposed to be a member of the band and are not playing like one. It seems that every element of this song is acting as if unattached to eachother. Yuck
- silenceistreason from L.A., California on 24May2005
Hmm...
I don't like the strained-sounding vocals at all, although I do like it when the guy sings in the higher pitch voice.... musically this song could beneifit from better production and some of the guitar parts almost sound like someone just playing around.
- thevillin1 from Warr Acres, Oklahoma on 24May2005
Extra Credit Awards
Originality-6
Stupidest Song Ever-3
Drums-2
Male Vocals-1
Guitars-1
Mood-1
Melody-1
Lyrics-1
Grooviest Rhythm-1
Most Bitter Break-Up Song-1
Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead was awarded Stupidest Song in Experimental Rock for the week of 6-06-05.
In our continuing series of songs being reviewed on GarageBand.com, we have made our way through the review cycle of "Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead" here is all the info about the song and the reviews that it received. Reviewers are also able to give extra credit to certain elements of a song, a list of the extra credit awards will be shown after all the reviews. See you next time with, "Back From Nebraska".
Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead(6:30)
Score 2.4 out of 5.0
#176 of 192 in Current Experimental Rock
#1245 of 1467 in All-Time Experimental Rock
History
Jeff-Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar Mick-Drums Scott-Keys
Hark! Hark! The Newsboy's Dead-A lazy man's song for the animal rights activist in you? Or an honest man's anguished soul searching in a crushing world of information overload and moral ambiguity?
I'm just a man of virtue
I'm just a victim of circumstance
cirmcumstance
Not circumcision
got them all in this condition
The cattle all have guilty consciences
trapped themselves in a razor wire fence
This song starts on quiet drums and a guitar line that quickly changes up to put some of the wet and sideways into the groove. Everything else comes right along with it. The Buddha All-Stars fill up your ears and settle in at the top of your spine for the rest of this track; a straight ahead rock groove, not afraid to get down and invite you to play in the dirt.
Lyrics
Look to the eastern skies
Of the west
And throw it all away
The cattle all came down today
We didn't have a word to say
I'm just a man of virtue
I'm just a victim of circumstance
Circumstance, not circumcision
Got them all in this condition
The cattle all have guilty consciences
Trapped themselves in a razor wire fence
So Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead
The cadillac ran over his head
And no one got their papers today
Some other day we'll get the news
And read through it and choose
Which of the cattle we want to save
Because a razor wire fence is hard to climb
Besides I just don't have the time
The cattle are my friends
Yes cattle are my friends
Yes cattle are my friends to the end
Reviews
wow long
didn't catch me immediately, definitely out there. With this kind of stuff I look for where melodies are innovative, sounds are ground breaking, or just plain - does this hold me? I didn't get into this. Vocals and story line too slow and too long.
- UVeez from Piedmont, California on 5Jun2005
messy
I think the opening rough guitar mix is not really effective. I really think you should try and remix this and put it back up. The constant guitar solo is very distracting. The bass drum is non-existant. This seems like hard rock to me; not really alternative. I am not finding structure to hold on to. Good luck.
- spiriteq from Royal Oak, Michigan on 5Jun2005
garbage
fuck this is weird music.. i dont really like it at all..the singing throws it off...im sorry but I find it hard to say anything good about this..sorry
- KayGee from Espanola, Ontario, Canada on 5Jun2005
rhythm and/or melody makes a song
Do I seriously have to review this? I pray you guys aren't serious about this. I'm sorry, but this is just terrible. No offense, just my tastes. The recording is awful. The guitars sound you've been playing for about half a day. Drums are rarely on beat, if at all. Singing (talking) is both boring and annoying at the same time. All that being said, you sound like you're having fun jamming so I like that, but I don't understand putting it on garageband. If you're serious, at least get a halfway decent recording and try to come up with some kind of rhythm or melody. Yeah, rhythm and melody sounds good. Best of luck.
- tylerjakes from Minneapolis, Minnesota on 4Jun2005
Not my style.
I like the atonal guitar intro, good start. I can't pin my finger on what bothers me about the rest of the song, possibly the guitar tone, or the bland vocals. It's not bad at all, but I can't get into it.
- undoingofdavidw from Dallas, Texas on 3Jun2005
classic rock goes way out
Atonal chromatic classic rock guitar sound random-riff-searching gets us started. Enter noise and stock rhythm section doing a 1/2 step mideast/indian chordal modulation vibe under wordless wolfy whine of falsetto lead vocal, (warming up). Guitar continues strong noodling, then drops back to noteless chunka rhythm, making room for the high vocal evolution down into crooney Sinatraesque slooow bluesy rappish melodic improv. Victim of virtue in uncircumsized circumstance? Next, guitar works back in with strong King Crimson m6 riffing, and the wolf returns for a bit. Frank croons some more, largely unrelated to key of music, but smooth, real smooth. Let's jam, at and over the edge.... you never know what we might discover...
- MikeOso from Atlanta, Georgia on 3Jun2005
Not for everyone
Not for everyone but I kinda liked it. It had a primal energy to it. Parts of it were really powerful and emotive and then other sections lost that energy. The hight vocal notes were reminisant of those old 50's horror movies. The whole song gave me a bit of a chill. I'm giving it 5 stars cause it scared me.
- The_Minors from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 2Jun2005
Beer anyone?
guitar and drums...is that a casio? Little wandering at the moment... Anything gonna happen? Guitar sounds a bit out of tune. Sounds like the guitar is laying the foundation, it should be the drums and or bass. Vocals drone, not into it. Sounds like a drunken jam caught on tape. Very drunken.
- remydelamora from Hollywood, California on 2Jun2005
finally, some experimental
this is actually a bit experimental unlike alot of other songs posted in this genre, i appreciate experimenting with music however i dont really like the screeching and vocals all that much.
- riznich from Manitowoc, Wisconsin on 1Jun2005
Uh, I dont call that anything
Said Frankie Lee with a smile. Frankenstein was an experiment, this is just really bad. But if you cant play or sing, well, you still shouldnt do this.
- gnosticguy from Timberlake, Virginia on 1Jun2005
Can on Prozac
A very feeble attempt at making krautrock, this was more funny than it was good.( But quite funny though) The vocals remind me a little of Jim Morrison, when he was very drunk, and played in half tempo.
- Julianscave from Oslo, Norway on 1Jun2005
review
interesting. i like the weird cultural thing that you have going here with the guitar slash...sitar? i like the drums. whatever it is that comes in at about 1:00 scared the hell out of me. its a tad loud. i like the guitar when he starts singing. Im not totally digging the lyrics but the music and the way he sings is cool. he sounds under the influence of something. but thats not always a bad thing. i like it. nice job.
- goodtimes7eleven from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on 31May2005
Off-Period
It sounds like you're purposefully fucking up here at the beginning, let's hope so--now the drums are catching on, and there's a strange metallic ambiance rising in the background. Okay, I liked all that, I'm glad that was method and not madness, or stupidity for that matter. I like the vocals too: unpredictable, experimental, yet somehow broken-in, very bassy. Of course, this is not listenable in case you couldn't figure that out for yourself, but music doesn't have to be, it just must keep expanding--Sonic Youth should've taught everyone that by now. Of course, they know how to put out marketable albums that allow them to fuck around for off-periods, you know, noise phases. The sloppiness is good in my book but I often feel alone in that respect, so good luck on garageband. I like alot of the guitar, it maintains originality throughout, a little Neil Youngish if you wanna go overboard, but overall this is incoherent to the casual listener (and plus you're paired with a totally badass song).
- Middies from Chattanooga, Tennessee on 31May2005
Back to the drawing board (or sanatorium).
Lo-fi garage type sound at the beginning. The ominious din in the backround kept my interest for a while, but when the vocals kicked in, I could no longer take this song seriously. Maybe that's the point, but this is a difficult feat to perform if a musician doesn't want to alienate a mainstream audience (this is my generous interpretation). Mostly this tune came off as grating and incomprehensible. I usually force myself to listen to an entire tune at least once. But not in this case.
- squidpool from New York on 31May2005
Hmmm...
I think there is a difference between exerimental and non-musical. But the fuzz bass is the shit. AAAAAhhhhh.
- Wevans from Austin, Texas on 30May2005
rulers of darkness
Very good vocals but way too high in the mix.The guitars were okay but you might wanna add a chorus pedal or something to flesh it out. Overall , a pretty cool song - reminds me of Nikki Sudden with maybe some Birthday Party thrown in. The mix was a little off but no big deal.
- harrysson from Hagerstown, Maryland on 30May2005
Too soon to see the light of day
The song seems to ramble and meander aimlessly. It sounds like a rehearsal room recording.
There are some raw, out of tune vocals. There doesn't seem to be any unity between the words and music. As a writer, I would probably count this as one part of an incomplete song concept.
- LoveIsReal from Cyberspace, Canada on 29May2005
??
What the hell. That is the most nonsensical trumpet playing is ever heard, hopefully its a just an intro to somthing good. not really...I do like how u create an excellent mood for a bout thirty seconds with that weird ghost sounding section at about 120. Thats pretty much the only part of the song that i liked. The singing was bad and the music was totally out of sink. It has potential, if u just decided to make it less ridiculas and more technically sound
- CraZyPickleZ from Edmonton, Alberta on 29May2005
Wow
Wow that was bizzare, at first i didnt knwo weather i hated it or loved it, and then i liked it. I cant really say anything, im speechless.
- ludofortuna from San Antonio, Texas on 28May2005
are we all together?
OK we are in the experimental section not the local guitar shop. The sound quality is not good. It's a bit unfortunate that you can get realistic sounds with vst instruments but I'm afraid it's the way of the world and people just go off what they hear. Loved the vocal very Jim Morrison complete with poetic lyrics. I can't hear the bass very well. The vocal really is the only clear quality sound. Sorry guys experimentation for me is about breaking new ground. I felt you were all doing different things that didn't have too much to do with eachother. Brave though, you are looking to break new ground, but you still need a hook.
- sirhcjacks from Manchester, United Kingdom on 28May2005
is good
i really like the dirty sound in the begining. it's like i'm right there. a little too loose on the whole thing. but there is defenatly something there. and the singer should do less drugs a drink less booze. anyway keep it up guys
- moscas from Los Angeles, California on 26May2005
about awareness
I'm not sure if there is any awareness behind the makings of this and why it has been shared with us. But sometimes it can be a good thing to step back to make an objective observation of what we do and why we do it. If a black hole of chaotic, isolated angst is what was intended to be shared here, it has been a success!
- ninaswan from Oslo, Norway on 25May2005
Fun!
I'm liking this stuff. It's chaotic, has moments where I think it's going to become perfectly coherent, then it goes off into times where it's got sort of an insane melody going. That extremely low tone is reminding me of some of the music from the early Star Trek movies, sounds like this is the bass line! It's cool, has a very ominous thing going. This is like Primus mixed with Yes, very intriguing sound. The lyrics are very bizarre, but still interesting. The song has a pretty nifty groove to it, seems like it has a consistent flow amongst the chaos. The guitarist really draws out some notes, making for some really cool expression. The drums are solid and played nicely. Nice outro too... Good work.
- bhodges01 from Stillwater, Oklahoma on 25May2005
Drunken jazz jam
Some strange sounds on this one. The guitar sounds very horn like which kinda fits the freeform jazz feel. Sounds like when me and my buddies get all lit up and start banging around on our instruments. This song is all over the place and not very listenable but it holds attention on the novelty of strangeness.
- ApocalypseCow from Toms River, New Jersey on 25May2005
Yuck
Those opening notes for the singer hurt. You could tell. Sing in your range man! The guitar seems okay, but you are playing by yourself. You are supposed to be a member of the band and are not playing like one. It seems that every element of this song is acting as if unattached to eachother. Yuck
- silenceistreason from L.A., California on 24May2005
Hmm...
I don't like the strained-sounding vocals at all, although I do like it when the guy sings in the higher pitch voice.... musically this song could beneifit from better production and some of the guitar parts almost sound like someone just playing around.
- thevillin1 from Warr Acres, Oklahoma on 24May2005
Extra Credit Awards
Originality-6
Stupidest Song Ever-3
Drums-2
Male Vocals-1
Guitars-1
Mood-1
Melody-1
Lyrics-1
Grooviest Rhythm-1
Most Bitter Break-Up Song-1
Hark! Hark! The Newsboys Dead was awarded Stupidest Song in Experimental Rock for the week of 6-06-05.
posted by TontoSavalas at 9:28 PM
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