If you're anything like me, you'll be spending the better part of the next four or five months of your life playing all the different variations available on the new watershed video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." The sequel to the wildly successful "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" (which pulled the military shooter series from historical skirmishes to the current day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan), "Modern Warfare 2" has not only established itself as the best of a great set of titles but also immediately enters the discussion of the greatest video games of all time, right alongside "Super Mario Bros.," "Halo," "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Madden '95." (For the complete take on "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," check out Multiplayer editor Russ Frushtick's in-depth review.)
The cinematic qualities of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" are overwhelming, including a lush score by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer ("Gladiator," "The Dark Knight," "Pirates of the Caribbean"). But though the score is great, it's also awesome to crank up your own tunes while working through warzones and taking out terror cells. That's why we've put together the "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" playlist, featuring battle-ready anthems from Slayer, Dropkick Murphys, 30 Seconds to Mars and Drowning Pool. But it's not all headbanging metal — there are also switch-ups from Eric B & Rakim, Nelly Furtado and the Specials. Check out the video playlist below, including a raucous classic from Destiny's Child. Because if your status ain't hood, you'll never survive "Call of Duty."
Has any young artist done a better job at creating buzz for his debut album than Justin Bieber? The Canadian kid whose entire career was kickstarted after he posted footage of himself singing on YouTube has gone completely grassroots, building up his Twitter followers, making Facebook friends, dropping strategic singles and delivering on key performances on shows like "Today" and "Ellen." The build has all been leading up to the release of his album My World on November 17, which features the already-ubiquitous singles "One Time," "One Less Lonely Girl" and "Love Me."
Now comes the next chapter in Bieber's media blitz — one that he is borrowing from Willy Wonka. Bieber announced via his Twitter that select copies of his album will come bundled with golden tickets. The recipients of said tickets will be entitled to a fan-friendly prize that is typically Bieber: They will receive a private concert from the singer himself. We expect his legions of rabid fans to pick up copies of My World by the truckload for the opportunity for a personal show from Bieber.
Bieber isn't the first person to steal the concept from Roald Dahl. A handful of rock bands have tried to boost album sales with the promise of prizes inside. Lamb of God included lottery tickets in their 2009 album Wrath that were redeemable for trips to see the band and signed memorabilia. 30 Seconds to Mars included a dozen golden tickets scattered around copies of A Beautiful Lie that gave the winner free backstage access to any of the band's concerts. Though nothing beats the recent promotion from noise-mongers HEALTH, who circulated 66 golden tickets in their recent album Get Color that were redeemable for all sorts of prizes, including a trip to Los Angeles to hang out with the band, posters autographed in their blood and all manner of personalized content. (Our favorite: "A recording of a short story read by a band member.")
Weezer just announced that they will be releasing their new album on October 27. The still-untitled record will be preceded by the release of a single called "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," which is supposed to hit radio on August 25. I haven't heard the song yet, but I can already tell it's going to be great. Why? Because it has parentheses. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that the easiest way to elevate your songs from good to great is to toss a parenthetical phrase into the title. In the world of music, parentheses will always equal immortality.
Take Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." What you have there is an epic seven-minute song with a lyric sheet that makes no sense at all. But it ended up being a massive single for Mr. Loaf, and do you know why? Parentheses!
It doesn't end there. R.E.M.'s single about Armageddon would be something of a downer if it was simply called "It's the End of the World as We Know It," but luckily it's called "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." The simple addition of the parenthetical phrase flips it from a downer to a slightly more optimistic tune.
The parenthetical statements don't always complete the thought. Take the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody." It's not terribly descriptive, is it? Are they pro or con everybody? Why isn't there a verb in there? But upon closer inspection, it turns out the real title is "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)." Now it's clear — BSB want everybody to know they have returned! A similar "A-ha!" moment occurs with "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," because without the add-on, how would we know what games to quit playing?
Want more parenthetical videos? Check out the playlist below, which features clips from BSB, Jay-Z, New Kids on the Block, Green Day and a particularly phenomenal parentheses-assisted clip from 30 Seconds to Mars.
Earlier this week, MTV News published an "in the studio" piece with 30 Seconds to Mars, in which they played us some new songs, gave us a tour of the facilities and talked in great detail about the ongoing $30 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by their former label, Virgin/EMI. This was the first time they'd done this, and needless to say, 30STM frontman/dreamboat Jared Leto was pleased with the results.
How do we know this? Well, because he said so, in the handwritten note he sent along with a dozen cupcakes from NYC's Sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery (there were even a few red-velvet ones in there, which only proves that he's got good taste). I’ve included a photo of said note — made out to myself and MTV News metal scribe Chris Harris — with this blog post, not just so you can scope Leto's penmanship (which is pretty great) and marvel at the fact that he spelled "grateful" correctly, but also to make you very jealous.
It was a very gracious gift, indeed, and we're very thankful to Jared and his 30STM pals. Not only did it make everyone in the MTV Newsroom feel just like Angela Chase on that one episode of "My So-Called Life" when Jordan Catalano gives her the "I'm Sorry" note (only this one was actually written by Jordan and not Brian Krakow), but the cupcakes made for a great "post-lunch, pre-3 p.m. coffee" pick-me-up. Oh, and before they were summarily devoured by hungry staffers, I managed to snap a photo of the cupcakes, which you can see after the jump.
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