Alex Trebek: Hello, and welcome to Jeopardy! We’ve got an excellent show lined up for you folks tonight. Now let’s meet the contestants! First up we have Cherry who’s a cashier in Texas. Then we have Bob a fireman from New York. Now, last but not least we have Tim who’s a plumber from Florida. Now let’s begin the game. Are you contestants ready?
*the contestants all nod their heads in agreement*
Alex Trebek: Okay Bob, you have first choice.
Bob: Alright Alex, I’ll take popular pop punk bands for 100.
Alex Trebek: Okay here’s the clue. Releasing their first official album “1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours” in 19991, this pop punk band dominated the nineties with several successful releases and have continued their success into the new millennium. In their early career their music had more of a silly feel to it. People loved the bands constant shenanigans and their catchy music with its constant catchy hooks and sing along choruses. Near the turn of the millennium a lot of hardcore punk fans began to sour towards the band. It seemed they just couldn’t keep up to par with their earlier works. The bands image also seemed to be changing to better suite young folks. This was one of the main reasons the punks started to veer away from the band. They saw little children listening to the band and quickly dismissed the band completely. Realizing they were losing support the band released a semi-political, more serious, supposedly ‘matured’ album. The album soared to the top of the charts and stayed there for quite some time. It sold millions upon millions of albums. Although, not everyone fell head over heels for this album. A good sized minority of people still recognize the album for the sheer garbage it is, while giving props to their earlier works.
Cherry: Umm…who are “The Pussy Cat Dolls”?
Alex Trebek: I’m sorry, that’s ridiculously incorrect.
Tim: Who are
Green Day?
Alex Trebek: Yes that’s correct! You can now pick the next category.
Tim: Let’s take ‘Green Day albums’ for 200.
Alex Trebek: Okay, here’s the clue. Green Day’s fourth official release this album is often hailed as their second best release trailing “Dookie”. It’s chalked full of the bands usual work. Memorable hooks, sing along choruses, four chord songs, and good clean vocals. The instrumentals are well written for the genre. A lot of strong power chorded riffs that provide a lot of the albums catchy feel. The bass lines mostly play the guitars root notes, but do have the occasional good riff here and there. The drums are mainly simple beats with some nice little roll beats and fills scattered about. The vocals are also quite splendid for the genre. Clean and somewhat powerful with the occasional illusion of emotion here and there. Some people who are more into metal, like Metallicaman8 from sputnik music reviews aren’t overly fond of this album, or Green day themselves due to the fact that prefer more complex instrumentals. But even Metallicaman8 can’t deny this albums wonderfully silly charm and overall high quality. Also, it came out in 1995.
Bob: What is
Insomniac?
Alex Trebek: That’s correct! You’ve taken the lead away from Tim and you can now pick the next category.
Bob: Let’s go with famous guitar players for 100.
Alex Trebek: This man would definitely not be included on the list for greatest guitarists of all time, but there’s no denying he has
some talent. He’s ability to put together song after song, after song composed of a mere four chords and keep coming up with new combinations is astounding. He’s sort of talented in a different way than most guitarists. Many guitarists like Kirk Hammet, or Jimmy Page are constantly hailed for their technical abilities. This man proves he has talent by constantly coming up with catchy, memorable songs that are fun to sing along to. He also occasionally manages to write a decent solo. Take for example a couple solos from his latest album “American Idiot”. The solos from “Holiday” and “American Idiot” are undeniably adequate. Some of his earlier albums, like
Insomniac do lack these solos however. Regardless of that this man does some skillful work on Insomniac, even if pretty much all of it is just driving, mildly distorted power chords. At least they’re fairly well written. Besides the man’s voice manages to keep the album alive where the guitar falters.
Bob: Who is James Hetfield?
*James Hetfield (who happened to be in the audience) comes down to the stage and slaps bob*
Alex Trebek: I’m sorry, that’s incorrect. That drops your score down to 100 and puts you into a tie with Tim.
Tim: Who is
Billy Joe Armstrong?
Alex Trebek: Yes, that’s correct! You’ve now moved into the lead and have the choice for the next category.
Tim: Let’s go with famous bassists for 300.
Alex Trebek: This man could definitely be considered on of today’s better pop punk bassists. While in most tracks he just plays the root notes of what they guitar is playing he does occasionally break away from that trend and forge his own path through songs. A cunning example of this would be his bass work in the track “When I Come Around” from the album “Dookie”. The bass line in that track was truly wonderful and really helped create the songs catchy atmosphere. A lot of this can also be seen on the album “Insomniac”. It really contains some of this mans best work. I’ve noticed he experimented with his bass lines a little bit more than usual on that particular album. Also, the tone of his amp was great as well. Really suited the music well and made the bass stand out a little more. All in all this man is an adequate bassist to say the least.
Cherry: Umm….Madonna?
Alex Trebek: Oh, go walk into open traffic.
Cherry: What!?
Alex Trebek: I said I’m sorry that’s incorrect
Bob: Who is
Mike Dirnt?
Alex Trebek: Correct! You’ve now taken the lead 400 to 200...Cherry is -400
Bob: Cool! For my next category I’ll take “Metal Bands” for 200.
Alex Trebek: This is the greatest metal band of al time!
Tim: Who are Metallica?
Alex Trebek: Yes! You’ve now moved into a tie with Bob. Unfortunately that’s all the time we have for this round, so we’ll now move onto final Jeopardy. The category is “Famous Drummers”.
Alex Trebek: Here’s the clue. This charismatic enigma of a drummer is really better known for his offstage antics than the actual quality of his drum playing. The same can be said for his whole band really, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is indeed a pretty good drummer. Unfortunately because of the genre of band he plays in he has to stick mainly to simple beats, otherwise the drums just don’t go with the music. Aside from this genre barrier he still manages to stick in some splendid roll beats and fills where necessary. He also keeps great timing throughout all albums. For example on Insomniac he puts out an excellent performance. Probably his best work barring his work on “Dookie”. I find this man to be a tad underrated as a drummer and should be put in the league of some of the better known pop-punk drummers, like Travis Barker.
*Insert trademark Jeopardy jingle here*
Alex Trebek: Let’s see what the contestants have come up with. Tim you came up with “Danny Carrey”. I’m sorry that’s incorrect, but you didn’t wager any more, so you still have a chance. Now let’s see what Bob came up with.
Tre Cool, that’s correct! You also wagered all your money so you have won the game. Well done and I’ll see you on the show tomorrow.
