Sugar's Musical Reflections
 

Primarily, I wanted to review albums. Sometimes, though, I only like a few songs from an album… or I don’t have the entire album of a band I know or like.

I’ve decided to review:

- Songs that have a special place in my heart
- Bands I really like
- Whatever music’s on my mind at the time of the review
- Instruments or anything musical I think I should share with you
- Music people recommend me
- Music I wouldn't usually listen to

(Basically, everything except for full albums.... but you never know... So maybe everything. Don't judge me.)



Welcome to my journal.

Sounds good to me. Album review threads are great but it's good to see some diversity and i much prefer reading about the music that people feel they have some kind of a connection to, and the reasons behind it.

Sweet another new journal starting up. I will be looking forward to this:D

^^ Look, he talked to you.

Me too, this should be exciting. ^_^ I'll try not to let you guys down.

Yayay. I'll post something in the next day or so.

Cause he knows I'd kick his ass if he didn't get that hint. xD

^^:rofl:

I'm loving this journal-booming. I was wondering what kind of music you listen to. Congrats for the journal.

Wow there's so many new journals popping up which is awesome. I look forward to this one :)

I'm excited for the support. [= Thanks, guys!

I've talked to you before alright! Maybe now I'm mb older we can talk a bit more:)

Grats on starting your journal, Sugar!

Looking forward to see what will come of it :)

Alkaline Trio - Dethbed
 

This review:

- Music people recommend me
- Songs that have a special place in my heart
- Whatever music’s on my mind at the time of the review (In this case, I had been listening to on the way back to my dorm.)



If anyone knows why they spelled the title that way, I’d love to know.

Off of the album Crimson(2005), comes Alkaline Trio’s Dethbed. The bassist, Dan Andriano admits that the band spent a tad more time on Crimson than they had on other albums, this could be the reason why this album stands out so much when I listen to Alkaline Trio. But don’t quote me on that… I don’t rate albums for a reason. xD

The first time I heard this song, I was falling asleep in the car waiting for my sister to come back from the mall. I’d heard some Alkaline Trio in the past when I was with one of my friends, but I never asked her for any of the CDs or to burn any of their work for me. I downloaded this discography because it was recommended to me BY her…. I never really listened to it. Because I didn’t have the actual album, and instead I used a torrent, I was able to receive all of the demos of the songs as well as the songs themselves.

Anyway, while my Zune was on shuffle, this demo of this song came up. Drifting in and out of sleep, I closed my eyes to what I figured I’d heard a million times before. As the music continued playing, I found myself almost unable to move as I listened to the lyrics.


Nothing entirely impressive, but for some reason, the chorus (above) really hit home for me. I found myself repeating the song for the next half hour, unable to understand what it was about the song that made me feel like breaking down. Playing the chorus repeatedly, I realized that I was tearing up. None of the rest of the song was affecting me this way, and I became more and more frustrated as the chorus passed and the song continued. To this day, I'm not exactly positive what it is that makes me feel that way, it could be something in my past or it could just be a really sad song. Generally, the lyrics above are able to tell an entire story in just a few lines, and I think maybe it was too much for me take in.

This song means a lot to me, but the actual version isn’t nearly as emotional for me as the demo version was. BECAUSE this song means so much to me, I have no interest in rating it.

Eh. ^_^ Thank you for listening, reading, maybe commenting and criticizing? I’ll post the regular version up so that you at least get a feel for the song if you don’t know it already.

Hi AwwSugar,
Could it be that it is called "Dethbed" rather than "Deathbed" because the protagonist in the song isn't really dead, but rather just feels dead because he was left by someone he loved so much that he felt life wasn't worth living without this person?

I enjoyed the beat of the song very much. My honest response, when I first read the chorus, was "Oh no...this makes me think of that guy I knew during college who was lying down, inebriated, on the lawn in the rain outside my dorm one evening because I didn't want to date him...I just wanted to be friends. He didn't go on to be part of a rock band, did he?!"

My other thought was that the person in the song is very emotionally dependent on the person he is singing about. I hoped someone would help him up, dry him off, and then help him distract himself with life for 6 months, until he gets to the point where he realizes he is better off without this person who left. That being said, it never feels good to feel abandoned...that is a very painful feeling.
--Veg

You're idea of the title is actually really interesting, I like it. It sounds like it could be the reason they spelled it that way.

I enjoy the beat, too. ^_^

It's weird, I had a really hard time reading the last paragraph of your response and I teared up, I don't know what it is about this song, I really don't.

Thank you for reading up and everything, it's always good to know someone's paying attention.

--Sugar

This review:

- Whatever music’s on my mind at the time of the review
- Instruments or anything musical I think I should share with you
- Music people recommend me

Purcell - Dido and Aeneas, "When I am laid in earth" / Emma Kirkby

I'd first been introduced to Purcell when I played in my high school's acoustic Guitar Ensemble. The pieces he wrote were arranged for guitar quartets and such... They were absolutely wonderful but I never looked into any of his work any further than that.

During my last year of high school, I took AP Music Theory and since most of that class is getting ready for the test aurally, we listened to dozens of pieces. One of the pieces we were supposed to analyze was When I Am Laid in Earth. We only heard about 20-30 seconds of the piece, but I was already hooked. I decided, after class, to ask my teacher what that piece was, because I was determined to hear more of it.

The intervals and chord progressions set an emotional storyline while the pure vocals and careful strings take you on a journey. All of this before you even know the story of the opera. The beauty of this piece is you don't have to know the story before you listen.

I can't really say anything else. This piece is beautiful. Emma Kirkby's voice is absolutely stunning. According to my teacher, this part of the opera is the most emotional... Listen, let me know what you think.

That's an example of the voices that never fail to give me goosebumps ...

i totally thought i had commented in here congratulating you on the journal, but i havent! unacceptable man.

anyways i cant say i had heard this song before i came in here but i have to agree on the analysis of the chorus. its quite effective in terms of wordchoice :)

The ones in your head, Nine? :wavey:

^_^ Thank you for the congrats. You should write one of your own, darling.

And yeah, the word choice is... nearly haunting.

more of the back of my neck :D

There are voices on the back of your neck?

Most music verging on operatic tends not to do much for me but thats a nice piece of music nonetheless i must say. Anyway, very worthy reading so far.

I think any metal band, or any band in general, should be able to slow down sometimes and write a mellow song. Not everything is thrash and hate and death. Most people have emotions, most musicians begin writing because of the emotions they have, and I think that they should be able to express their emotions in more than just fact-paced music or just slow-paced music.

When I first discovered Killswitch Engage, I was at a concert and my friend and I decided to stop and listen some bands we didn't know. I realized that the frontman (Howard Jones) had a way with the crowd, and I was also intrigued with the idea of a (for lack of knowledge of his actual ethnicity) coloured man for a singer. I was excited. I was intrigued.

And then I heard their music.

Killswitch Engage – My Last Seranade

Let’s be realistic, I don’t listen to a lot of metal or metalcore or whatever you want to call it. Don't correct me. I don't care.… I don’t listen to a lot of rock that the people I went to school with listened to. I don’t listen to music that a lot of people like in general. This ISN’T because I’m attempting to be different or because I hate mainstream, it’s because I find a lot of music interesting… sometimes this music is mainstream, sometimes this music is classical, you never really know.

At the time of My Last Serenade, the singer wasn’t Howard Jones, but another singer who’s name I cannot currently recall. Anyway, the song starts off slowly. A lot slower than any of the other songs I had heard by Killswitch up until then. I was actually really excited. I had just heard Metallica's Nothing Else Matters, and although the two have almost nothing in common, I was excited to hear slower songs from bands who's music is usually... well... not slower. I'm not a huge Metallica fan... at all. It's not them, it's the style of music, and I just happen not to be amazed by it. Anyway, I had heard Nothing Else Matters and I was excited that a band I wasn't particularly interested in could change their sound that way, I like that. So when I heard Killswitch Engage's almost change in sound, I was glad that they weren't playing only one type of music.

I hear a cymbal roll and wince, knowing what's coming up next. ALL OF A SUDDEN the song breaks from the light singing and the guitar strumming to a loud, generic, Killswitch Engage song. Needless to say, I was not impressed. The song wasn't even thirty seconds in before the cymbal roll... I wasn't going to turn off the song just yet, because I enjoyed the band either way, I was just a bit disappointed, I actually really like this song. When I got to the chorus, I was surprised to hear his usuaal singing voice back, and not his evil scary monster screaming voice. =3... One which I also happen to like.

ANYWAY. Are you still reading?

Watching the video, I'm kind of... disgusted by the way the singer looks when the song breaks into it's usual loudness. He doesn't look like an experienced singer, he looks like a 15-year old auditioning for a metal band. Once again, I'm not impressed.

Later, you can see in the singer's face that this song isn't just a song, it probably means something.... or he has light in his eyes and he's squinting.

I don't know where I'm going with this anymore.

Enjoy the song, either way. Don't be fooled by my rants, I really do like it, it's just... nothing new.

Here, sleep, at the bottom of hell
Your time has come to pick the road you'll walk in this tale
Turned and as a coward you've learned
Through sickness and health, there's only one
Now go and bite your tongue

You'll just say the worst of me, with a hope they'll understand
No, they know you're just a boy, so grow up and be a man

Little baby, kicking, you scream and whine
Victims pay the price eventually
The cost, let's see... your life

You've got nothing to prove
Stay afraid young brother
You've got nothing to prove

Your answer is in there, just stare down the barrel
Your sincerest apologies, won't write you out of this one
Tonight... you'll find the right
In the pull of the trigger, now bite
Oh young fools, don't cry... anymore

A fear sleeps, inside your stomach... it swells
A torn boy alone in need of fix and the pinch that cures the itch
For too long, this little baby has cried on
For tomorrow we'll sing the words and song
Of a time we're glad is long gone

Coheed and Cambria has a tendency to write with a sharp tongue. For almost every one of their songs EVER, I have been more than glad the song wasn’t about me. You never want someone writing this way about you... at least I hope not. This song, to me, sums up everything I love about Coheed and Cambria. Claudio's voice sounds better than ever. It completely enhances the bands sound.


In another one of their songs, Once Upon Your Dead Body, they say- once again with a sharp tongue:


In yet another one? I think it’s… The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut

If I had my way, I’d crush your face in the door.

I think in any other context, this line would sound absolutely corny. It would make the song sound horribly writter. In this context, it fits perfectly. The mix between Claudio's voice and the music supporting it sounds absolutely amazing. For the rest of the song, it's entirely instrumental. The thing I personally respect most about Coheed and Cambria is that they take the time to play. They don't rush into lyrics or insane drum and guitar solos. They don't mind slowing down, letting you breath for a bit..




Primarily, I was introduced to Coheed and Cambria by a friend through the album Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV: Volume I From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness.

I instantly fell in love with the album, I couldn’t stop listening to the band. It wasn’t until recently that I was on one of the threads in MB and saw that… I’m going to say Terrible Lizard or Sidewinder, I don’t remember who- posted the song Mother Superior. I was amazed. Yet ANOTHER song I loved by the band, I couldn’t wait to hear the rest of the album. Now I have a problem:
When I’m introduced to an album through a song ON that album, I tend to listen to that one song more than anything else, and I don’t get to know the rest of the album very well… I guess that’s why I’m here posting songs one by one instead of the albums they’re on.

Anyway, the songs I posted are absolutely amazing, I love them. End of story.

P.S. I really wish more people would give me feedback. I try really hard to write good entries and I only get one post for most of them. =\

I hate all this stuff but you're doing a good job here.

i like the lyrics alot, im not familiar with the artists. but those lyrics are memorable.
they are so pessimistic.

Thank you!

For which one of the songs? The Coheed and Cambria ones?
They tend to have really depressing lyrics, but they're more stabbing than anything, you know? They're not the regular "My girlfriend broke up with me and I'm really sad now. My life sucks" lyrics.
Instead, they're more poetic.

yeah the review you just done.
thats why there memorable, as its not the usual **** artists write about.
its as if its a personal thing they're writing about, which i like. :)

After hearing quite a few members raving about Coheed, I checked them out a few months back and couldn't stand them but keep up the good work with the journal. My favourite part of MB these days.

The Member Journals are your favourite part? ^_^

Thank you for posting. [=

I don't care much for Killswitch Engage, as Shadows Fall does the whole "mainstream for 13-year old boys" metalcore thing a less cringworthily, but I love the Coheed review!

(even if I have the album already =P)

Keep up the good work Sugah! :beer:

^_^ Killswitch is a weird band, it's hard to get into.

You have the Coheed album or the Coheed review? xD

Edit: Oh okay. xD

Thank youuu. [=

pg.lost
 

This band was introduced to me by dac in the Post-Rock thread. Since I don't know them extremely well, I don't have too much to say. But I absolutely love the sound the band has and the feeling their music gives me. After hearing the first work that dac introduced, I decided to hear a few more pieces by them.

I'm glad to say I can distiguish the difference between the three pieces just by the sound. Usually, instrumental bands apply the same general idea to their music, and I quickly lose interest.



The first (courtesy of dac):


I did not expect to hear what I did when I pressed the 'play' button that day. I expected to hear something I'd turn off immediately, maybe somebody's voice I wasn't quite fond of... maybe a generic instrumentation. Instead, I heard soft music. I heard music I was interested in. I turned my volume up and was instantly intrigued. I listened, my eyes wide open. I looked around, remembering there was no one in my room with me. Why was I suddenly getting the chills? Why was a shivering a little bit? There was hardly anything going on in the song. When the drums came in, I found myself smiling, there was nothing loud and obnoxious. There was nothing in the music that made me feel the need to turn down the volume. I had nothing to complain about.

A soft rhythm on the snare drum with an occasional cymbal crash. I was excited, I was intrigued, this was amazing. The drum part changed, as did the guitar. The same theme was in the background as I continued listening... I found myself closing my eyes, able to simply enjoy the music.

I may not have been alive for long, I may be young, but it's been a long while since I've been able to close my eyes and simply enjoy music. Nothing to analyze, no lyrics to connect with, just music. Simple. Clean. Wonderful. I love this piece. I love the sound.

The music returns to it's initial sound. The simple sound I enjoyed oh so much at first. It's beautifully written, there's no way I can deny that.

Soon, the music feels more fast-paced and intense, I find myself picturing times in my life that I could connect this sound to. I bite my lip as the pictures and memories become clearer, everything I've ever gone through is racing through my mind. All of my experiences are twisting and turning in the tornado of my past, and suddenly, a release. It's over. It's quiet in my room.

Everything disappears and I open my eyes.

The other two I found on my own:


and


The reason I only reviewed the first one is because that was my first impression of the band. And because I'm lazy.




Thank ya, dac. ^_^

Hey everyone. ^_^
I know nobody reads this, but just incase you were wondering, I'm going to try and cover the next song I review.
I learned it already, and I'd like to add a new twist to this journal.
Thank you for listening, and commenting if you decide to.;]
Hint. =P

I love your Pg.Lost write up and how it affects you on a personal level. That sort of writing is all too rare on here unfortunately. When certain pieces of music just take you somewhere else then I think that your love for music will never leave you. Everyone has something they use as an emotional crutch. Mine is music and it seems to be yours too :) Pg.Lost I know about anyway and as you are enjoying the Post Rock sound I may do a compilation in one of my threads so you can checkout some more. Great post.

I look forward to it. Sounds interesting :thumb:

Thank you. [=
I'm glad someone noticed that, because honestly, that song brought back so much for me.
And a compilations sounds great. [[=

My voice still isn't back yet, so I'll do another review before my cover.

The XX - Infinity

Glad I could help. Sorry that I didn't even notice this until you informed me in that other thread... I've been neglectful to this site as a whole. Very good write up though.

If you really do like Pg. Lost so very much, then trust me that there's a whole world of music out there for you. Do contact me (or just about any of the members in the post rock thread) if you'd like some recommendations along the lines of Pg. Lost.

The moment I was reading this I got myself the chills, some weird coincidence... You're pretty right on this song, definitely accurate description of the listener's first reaction.

.... and I was so excited to say this, that I forgot that I'm playing the embedded video on that page, so clicked the [reply] button, and off went the song.

Looking forward for that cover.

This thread is very interesting with some good music, subscribed to it... now.
Those pg.lost ones grabbed me right away. Nice and mellow, you can dream away and relax, it's quite beautiful.

Hehe, I figured you hadn't missed out on your mention on purpose! ;]
I'll definitely be contacting you soon for some new ideas. [=
Thank you. ^_^

Thank youu!
I'm glad you like pg.lost [=