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What Three Albums Changed Your Life?

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Currently trending on Twitter is the hashtag #3AlbumsThatChangedMyLife. Designed to have people tweet the covers of three albums that changed their lives in some way, it’s not meant to seek their favorites, which I love. It’s much easier to think of landmark events than favorite moments as those can shift on a minute-by-minute basis. But something that left an indelible effect on one’s life? Those are far easier to pinpoint.

That hashtag got me thinking of three albums that shaped my musical life. To be 100% honest, I only needed about 10 seconds before three immediately came to mind. Therefore, I figured I’d share my own and hope that you would all let me know yours!


Tangerine Dream – Legend OST

This was one of my favorite films as a child and Tangerine Dream‘s score was a big part of my love for this movie. It was also the soundtrack that got me hooked into film scores, the one that made me pay attention to the music of a movie as much as I paid attention to the visuals and story. I remember laying on my bedroom floor with a cheap keyboard in front of me, plunking away and trying to figure out to play the main theme. This soundtrack is what inspired my love of music and will forever be the most important album of my life.

Metallica – The Black Album

My sister had a party once and several of her friends brought CDs over so they could have music in the background whilst doing whatever it was that they did (I wasn’t invited). One of her friends left a copy of Metallica‘s The Black Album but no one laid claim to it. It’s as though someone left it deliberately, never wanting to have it in their possession again. So, I did what any rebellious young teenager would do: I took it and played it, wanting to see if I was going to be interested in “metal”. At this point, the only real albums I owned were Green Day’s Dookie, No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom, and, shame upon shame, ICP’s The Great Milenko.

The Black Album completely changed me. Suddenly, it felt like I found a genre that was meant for me, that spoke to who I was as a person. Prior to having this album, I never really took to metal, even though I liked the occasional “harder” song. But now it all made sense and I went down that path and have never looked back.

Porcupine Tree – In Absentia

In the summer of 2002, I was hanging out with a core group of friends and our big thing was going to concerts and blasting music at earth-shattering volumes, all while hooking up our computers and playing Diablo II via LAN. One of those guys was a huge prog rock fan and kept talking about a band by the name of Porcupine Tree. One day I was at a music store and I saw In Absentia for $9.99. That was back when CDs were anywhere from $13.99 to $17.99, so I saw it as a great deal and said to myself, “Fuck it. If I don’t like it, it was a cheap test.

I got into my car and popped the album into my Discman, which was connected to the stereo system via a cassette adapter. I dug the first track, “Blackest Eyes”, but it was “Trains”, the second track on the album, that hooked me. The vocal harmonies in the bridge starting at 2:55 in the below video absolutely blew my mind. I rewound and replayed that section over and over and over. Then I replayed that song over and over and over. I think I listened to it maybe 20 times before I allowed the album to progress to the third track. What followed is an album that I still return to with enormous fondness and joy, now mixed with wisps of nostalgia because it’s been a part of my life for so long.

While The Black Album introduced me to my love of metal, In Absentia allowed me to stray into new and exciting territories. It was because of this album that I felt comfortable testing the waters of anything that came across my path. After all, if I took a risk on this album and it ended up changing my life, who knew when that might happen again?

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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