NumberNineDream

Seems like Metallica played a big part in our musical upbringing. It makes me happy

And thanks for the suggestions Mojo, I will be checking these albums the day I get a break from Uni.

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NumberNineDream

Hmm, let's see. Finding out what I loved after my Metallica phase is quite hard. I was becoming a cliché teenage girl, that buys a teen magazine to get a picture of Daniel Radcliff (I was a big Harry Potter geek, and still am -without the Radcliff love though). So I don't think there's much to talk about in this period, still I'm gonna include it as a journal entry cause these years somehow introduced me to Rock (very bad commercial Rock, but Rock nonetheless).


I think I can put the albums that somehow were the favourites of that era. Albums that are still guilty pleasures, and that I can still sing all of their songs having memorized the lyrics and melodies by heart:

-Fallen (2003) by Evanescence
-200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002) by t.A.T.u
-Let Go (2002) by Avril Lavigne

I think I'm gonna review them three, I just was obsessed with those albums in 2003, and these were the first albums that I bought an original copy of. [Virgin Megastore had just opened in Beirut].


I guess it was kind of expected to find myself loving these, in my eye, "talented women". In this stage of life when I needed to discover myself as a woman and all that. They were in way, what I found myself wanting to be. Not idols per se, but just some females I could look up to. And was only 12, so I wasn't that picky it seems.

I loved Evanescene from the first time I saw their music video of Bring me to Life. First for the clip, then for the music. Seeing her hanging on this window pane from some sky scraper in for some reason a beige sleeping gown, always intrigued me. Then this guitarist shows up from the window, in the apartment, and instead of helping her, he's rockin' his guitar. It was pretty hilarious and annoying at the same time. Maybe my favourite part of the song, is this conversation they get at the end with the guy somehow rapping the lyrics, which ends with her falling. I really did love it. So I just bought the album the next week. Here it is for those who forgot it or never heard of it:


I was really surprised by the album to be honest. From the first song to the last, I fell in love with it. The lyrics were maybe a bit too Emo, but I loved them, and wrote them down on my copybook (although they were already written in the album sleeve). I can get nerdy that way. My favourites were Hello and Tourniquet, I still get goosebumps from these two. Her screaming sounds so genuine, the music was in way powerful, and the lyrics describing this girl's very fragile state wonderfully. Here are my favourite two, that never were released as singles:


After that phase, I never did listen to any other Evanescence songs from another album. After David Hodges left the line up, there was no Evanescence even if Amy Lee is the image and the singer of the band.

*I'll continue with the other 2, in the next review, and once my headache is terminated.

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NumberNineDream

Let's just finish this thing off...


I'm not proud to say that I still can sing fully All the things she said, but I did truly and honestly love that album. One of those bands that I first got obsessed with (Like, if I saw their name on the cover of a magazine, I'm definitely buying that magazine). I don't know if them being "so called" Lesbians at the time, that influenced my judgement in a way, all I know is: I loved everything in that album. They can be described as two Russian chicks whining a lot, but I loved their whiny voices and the energy in their songs. I found the lyrics about forbidden love cute and quite fun to sing along to, nothing too serious. The Russian versions of their hits included in the album were also one other positive addition. Here are a couple of favourites:


Didn't listen to any of their other albums also. They seemed like they were recycling the tunes of their debut, and after one of them revealing her fiancé in Russia, it's pretty pathetic seeing them continuing with the whole "Lesbian" act 2 years later.


She seemed pretty fun at the time, and I liked her skater look, and playing Tommy Hawk's Pro Skater 2 a lot a the time made me want to be a skater myself. I think that played a major part in it. Plus she seemed like "one of the guys", which is another thing I liked. There's nothing else I can say about the album, maybe these tracks were my favourites:


Another singer I found myself hating her future works. So no, I don't own the "Hey hey you you blah blah blah Girlfriend" track.

I'm glad this ended.



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Just to change the taste in my ears, I'm going to post this great tune I've been listening to a lot this past week. A thanks to Prude (Paloma), for introducing me to this awesome Female Punk band. From their debut album Germ Free Adolescents (1978):

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NumberNineDream

I've been trying to sleep for the past hour, but failing miserably. So what better time to revive this journal.

Rolling in bed, I remembered what followed my "Mtv Phase". So here goes:


It was the beginning of the year 2005, on February 14th to be exact, that our previous Prime Minister got murdered. What started a chain reaction that ended with the beginning of what we called the "Cedar Revolution".
We used to go to the centre of the capital twice a week, marching and protesting, demanding our freedom from the Syrian regime (which was occupying the country at the time). And I, as many other teenagers at the time, got filled with the spirit of revolution and got to the streets.

Although it all ended up being some big charade held by the bigger countries, and even though I remember this time as an embarrassment and a huge disappointment; the songs that we chanted throughout the whole year, did, and still bring some tears to my eyes.


I'm going to talk about 3 female Lebanese singers, who happen to sing most of those patriotic songs.



First off, by one of the most prominent female singers of Lebanon, Majida el Roumi, singing "Ya Beirut" (O Beirut), which was a poem originally, written by Nizar Kabbani, ironically, a Syrian poet:


As you won't be able to understand the lyrics: It's about the poet, addressing Beirut, in the name of the Arab countries (hypothetically), confessing their jealousy, and the way they destroyed her. Then he urges the capital to rise from the ashes and so on...

A second favourite is, Saqata el Qina' (The Mask has fallen). This one is a more of a war song, urging the people to fight till death for their freedom, written by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.


We continue with Julia Boutros, more of a militant for the Palestinian rights, has a more popular, down to Earth sound. And here's a song for the South of Lebanon, that was at the time occupied by the Israeli army.

The song is entitled "Ghabet shams el Ha' "(The sun of Justice has set) , speaking in the name of the people, and declaring that they refuse to die:


That is the most down to Earth one of them all. She has this kind of naive way to sing everything, and the lyrics are so corny it just makes me smile... Here's the song "Ardak el Karami" (Your land of Pride), addressed to the Lebanese Army:



After this period of my life, I decided to boycott every Lebanese channel and radio station. Thank god for Cable and the Interwebs.

Cheers.

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Norg

cool stuff but I noticed for the faduel video was this video shot in the same location if so I thought that was pretty neat


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn47QwgJBtI