Sometimes a great album can have a bomb on it. One that doesn’t fit in any way can cause much shame to a solid tracklist. It can happen to just about any band or any album, regardless of experience or genre. They can keep a make a 9.5 out of a 10 in the blink of an eye. So what are you supposed to do? I say, just skip it.

Here are my top 5 absolute, must-skip songs in history:

01. “In the Back Seat” - Arcade Fire - Funeral
02. “Within You, Without You” - Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s
03. “Sparks” - Coldplay - Parachutes
04. “Sparks” - Röyksopp - Melody AM
05. “Backdrifts” - Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

This was one of those energetic Avalon shows where the band’s playing the venue for the first time and promoting a highly-acclaimed album. It was on a weekend, too, so everyone was feeling good.

MMJ opened with the smooth “Wordless Chorus”, and quickly won the crowd over. When the chorus crashed in, it put everyone on notice that they were going to kick some serious booty. They played next two tracks from Z before hitting up perhaps their best two pre-Z songs, “One Big Holiday” and “O is the One That Is Real.” At this point, I was pretty much in a state of uncontrollable euphoria. I had already heard all of the songs I really wanted to hear.

The rest was just icing. They played most of the upbeat songs from Z, and the crowd enjoyed every minute of it. They brought Kathleen Edwards on stage for a duet, which blended her and Jimbo’s voice like some calm, haunted operetta.

For anybody worried about how their Z songs would translate live, you have nothing to worry about. If anything, they sound better in person: they fill the rafters and flood the floors.

They finished the encore with “Anytime”, a solid exclamation on the whole show. I can’t imagine anyone, a fan or otherwise, was in any way disappointed by what they heard or saw. MMJ brought their A-game, A-Team style.

Some guy’s review/pics
Official messageboard thread

USC-ND: Greatest Game Ever

I would say it was the greatest regular-season game ever. The OSU/Miami Fiesta Bowl a couple years back was the best game I’ve ever seen. Matt Leinart’s legend just got even bigger, if that’s possible. Reggie Bush is one of the best players of football on any level. Dude’s got moves I never even thought were possible.

White Sox in World Series for first time since 1959

Congrats, etc. I still think A.J. Pierzynski is a total jackalope, though.

Michelle Wie DQ’d for Bad Drop, Costs Her $53,126

She said she got 3″ closer, they said 12″. That’s roughly $6,000 an inch. The important lesson is that she would’ve finished fourth, which means she’s already better than most women on the tour and she’s not even old enough to eat cereal yet.

A-Rod’s mom: Uncle’s death affected performance

How embarassing. Now his mommy’s defending him.

Condie Rice, Jack Straw to attend Alabama-Tennessee game

What better way to show America off to a British politician? I’m sure he’ll be charmed by the mullets, wife-beaters, and coonskin caps.

600-pound man too slow to move dies after fire

This is like something out of Se7en. Just reason #3,728 why it’s not good to weigh 600 lbs.