January 2003 – Page 16 – Lollipop Magazine

Soldier of Fortune 2 – Double Helix – Review

January 3, 2003

Moral ambiguity is squelched early in the game. The bad guys aren’t generic thugs, they’re first-rate terrorists with a biologically-engineered plague.

Goth Chic – A Connoisseur’s Guide to Dark Culture – Review

January 3, 2003

Gavin Baddeley’s easy-to-read guide sketches out the history of this voluptuously gloomy subculture.

ADZ – American Steel – Review

January 3, 2003

Some pop-punk influence, but thankfully beefed up in every facet to take it out of that genre. The lyrics are funny and poignant and not sung like a sissy.

From Grand Funk to Grace – Review

January 3, 2003

The book includes a disc of Farner’s new music: Nothing much there, but not terrible. No one listened to Grand Funk for lyrical content, messages, or guidance.

Chumbawamba – Readymades – Review

January 3, 2003

Very catchy and playable. Still, it lacks the teeth-gnashing anger of Tubthumper, with its backwards Hail Mary and lines like “kick your face in so politely.”

Billy – Volume One – Review

January 3, 2003

Rockabilly is a hipster costume party emulation of rock and roll’s first unsteady steps out of the primordial soup until Marty McFly invented the guitar solo.

Eaten Alive! – Review

January 3, 2003

A comprehensive guide to spaghetti splatter in its purest form: The form that looks you in the eye as it greedily gnoshes on your large intestine.

The Crush – Here is Where I Cross My Fingers – Review

January 3, 2003

Adeline enters the lucrative and often laughable world of emo-punk, but they do so with a band from Minneapolis, so they won’t get slapped.

Abdullah – Graveyard Poetry – Review

January 3, 2003

Rooted in the jean jacket ’80s, projected back to Sabbath’s sound stage and forward through the epic moments of Soundgarden.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus – Review

January 3, 2003

Yes, he’s an animal. Yes, he’s cool and has a little attitude to spare. But he and his game aren’t the stereotypical platform fare we’ve come to expect.