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Pretty straight forward, I will post a song that is stuck in my head and for some reason will not leave my head. Today's song is brought to you by The Proclaimers. I know exactly why this song is stuck in my head too. I hear it all the time at work and I cannot help but think that it's easily one of the catchiest i've ever heard. So...enjoy.

The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Time for another entry on Video Game music. I did a previous entry on a few soundtracks which can be found here. Here's a few more to add to the list:

I know there are a lot of Adult Swim fans here, so it'd be no surprise if people didn't know about the wonderful soundtracks that go along with the games such as Robot Unicorn Attack and Robot Unicorn Attack 2. One in particular has definitely made the game more appealing than it ever was, and hopefully this is obvious, but if not...



This song seriously makes the game THAT much better, I mean...there's not a lot you can do to make a game about a unicorn crashing into stars much better, but this song really does it. Then we get onto some other songs that they've showcased on some of their other editions of the game, such as...



^This song was the background music for Robot Unicorn Attack: Heavy Metal Version, and I don't think they could have chosen anything better. And than we have their Christmas edition where they showcased Christmas Time by The Darkness. Another fantastic choice:



^Definitely wasn't something I was expecting to hear on their christmas edition, but it was no surprised that they chose it since they haven't been too bad about choosing well fitting songs.

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

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I don't make doing album reviews a normal thing in my journal because I find that to be too cliche for a music themed journal, however...I do find that reviewing an album that has surprisingly hit me in the right away has a bit of a different effect, and I also find it easier to express my thoughts about it when it has affected me in such a way. Plus the fact that i'm absolutely terrible at writing album reviews. I have my own criteria for them but I never feel that it meets the standards that I give myself. Believe it or not, this is Porcupine Tree's ninth studio album, and when I first listened to it a few years back, I was certain this would come up as one of their first albums, boy was I wrong. I've also done a little bit of research and I found that this whole album is basically a concept of teenage angst, and now when i'm listening to the lyrics, it makes a lot of sense. Usually i'm not the best at picking up on themes when it comes to albums like this, but I always felt like it reminded me of the harsh times I had when I was a few years younger, especially in songs like Fear of a Blank Planet and Anesthetize. The album as a whole also comes together very well in becoming one of the better constructed albums this band has offered both musically and lyrically, especially with Anesthetize when it picks up toward the middle, or I should say when Wilson begins the lyrics:

"The dust in my soul
Makes me feel the weight in my legs
My head in the clouds
And I'm zoning out"

I get chills every time it gets to this part because like I said, it's so perfectly constructed both lyrically and musically as well as being one of the more important themes in the entire song when you finally realize what it's been leading up to. He uses a lot of examples through the next few parts of the songs that a lot of people can relate to, which I find to be a very important factor when writing songs regardless. Also love the addition of Alex Lifeson for the guitar solo in the song.

I've read a lot of other reviews stating that this album lacks in the forms of being interesting and people often find it to be very boring, I personally find it to be a great representation of what Steven Wilson is capable of. Like a lot of other people, it took me a little while to get used to Wilson's form of vocal style which doesn't seem to have much of a change with range, etc, but you come to find that it fits with the music better than if the vocalist was always hitting those high notes or what have you. I also find that it allows for more creativity when the vocal ranges aren't the centerfold of the band, he basically makes himself as important as the rest of his band instead of it being one man on the mic with a background band.

The only negative about this album that I will point out is that it is far too short. There's a lot of creativity and originality in the album but I wish it was a few tracks longer only for the fact that i'm a bit selfish when it comes to wanting to hear more of the style that the album focused on. Regardless of it's length though, I think the longer tracks make up for lost time and still manage to be one of my all time favorite progressive rock album.

For years I didn't even think this song was written and performed by human beings - just robots programmed to produce the catchiest song known to man. Good song, not that you'll me admitting it that often!

Good journal too, looks like you've been putting a lot of effort into this :) I'll be keeping an eye on this - I'll have a proper read-through later when I've a bit more time on my hands.

Coming from you I take that as a huge compliment. I like this journal more thany previous one because I now have a proper theme going which I am comfortable with.

:)

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Another day, another random song stuck in my head. This one is a bit random but hell, when aren't they random:

Lamb of God - Walk With Me In Hell


I'm actually pretty happy that I have had this song stuck in my head, since I find it to be one of my all time favorite metal songs. I've seen Lamb of God three times in concert and they perform this song every single time. Long story short, it's easily the best song to head bang to since there are so many instances where it just gets heavy, and stays heavy. When I first saw them at Ozzfest at 07, I just remember getting super excited when the starting chords started to play, at that point I knew exactly what was going to happen...I was going to lose my freaking mind and rock the hell out as hard as I could!

Yeah, I know that feeling. It's easy to just pot whatever comes to your head in here, but pretty soon you start wanting a bit more focus about things. It's basically why I axed the first journal I started here!

As for Lamb Of God, I know next to nothing about them, but tracks like that make me think I should explore that kinda music a bit more...good call.

Number 6 out of 15: Foghat - Energized



This album is very special to me. I remember not having any knowledge about this band or even knowing who they were, but I went with my hunch mostly due to the fact that I thought the album cover looked pretty cool. When I got home that night, I gave it a listen right away and I was impressed, more than I had been in a long time with random purchases. It's a damn fine album from the first track to the end and just brings up the best of classic rock. The vocalist and everything throughout seem to flow very well and I can say it's a definite must listen for anybody interested in either classic rock or just good music in general.

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This song plays every day at my work, and I find myself singing along. I know the original version is by the Bee Gees, but I think Michael Bublé does a damn good cover. I'm not too fond of him in general, but I do think he does this song some justice for what it's worth.

I love this album, it's one of my favourites. There are definitely some moments in these PT songs that really "hit" me as well, so to speak. And you're not terrible at writing up album reviews :P

But yeah, definitely my favourite Porcupine Tree album.

I've given PT's other albums a listen but there aren't many other instances where I feel goosebumps from listening to them. Arriving Somewhere But Not Here is the exception as I think that is PT's best song to date.

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We all know em', we all love em' and we all hate to love em'. That's right, a new section in my journal to talk about the songs that just rip my heart right out and stomp on them with steel toed boots. Before I go on, I want to explain that I see no problem with songs having such an effect on ones emotional state, because that just means the song is special to you, even if it makes you feel sad. Being sad is a natural thing and when music can reach such a natural effect in your life, it's obviously doing something right. Anyway, to start this off, I will post a song that I'm sure everyone has heard at least once. It's special to me in the way that I have the title of the song tattoo'd on my left arm to remember how much of an impact it had on me. It makes me feel a mixture of sadness, pain, and happiness all at the same time. Allowing me to remember what good times I had when I introduced my loved one to this beautiful man:

Elliott Smith - A Fond Farewell

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It's time for another heart wrenching tune that will surely cause some pain around the heart regions. But what is life if you can't feel emotions? Exactly, not worth it. Anyway, keeping this one short and brief.

Jon Anderson - Boundaries


This song means a lot to me, and listening to it now reminds me as to why that is. This song reminds me of when I spend 6-7 months in Monterey, CA living with my now girlfriend. We were living in a ****ty apartment and all we had was ourselves and the record collection that seemed to grow larger and larger as the day went past. I picked this one up in particular because I remember being a fan of Yes, but never checking out Jon Anderson's solo work. This song in particular was always a personal favorite of mine on the whole album because it just felt...beautiful. It's not so much that it's a heartbreaker in a bad way more than it is a heartbreaker when I remember the days in California. We do plan to go back for a small vacation in the future, and it will be just as great as it was.

What fun is life if you don't have something to look forward to? Especially when it comes to music. Hell, it seems like the past two years there's been something to look forward to in at long list of genres. There has been a lot already released this year that I have probably hit on in my journal or am planning to. Here's a few that I will be getting on the first day of release:

Trivium - Vengeance Falls (Set to release Oct. 15 2013)

I love Trivium, and through the years I've noticed their albums do get better with each release. Although, In Waves for some reason got a lot of hate, I find that to be one of their best, only because I think being able to fill an album with so many tracks and still have so many hits and not getting boring is a pretty difficult feat to accomplish. With the new album coming up, the only thing I'm not too thrilled about is the album title. "Vengeance Falls" just sounds very metal band cliche, but opinions are opinions, and mine could be wrong, but that's just my first impression of that. I'm hoping the album is a hit, and i'm refusing to listen to any single released or any leaks for that matter only because there are certain bands that I want to hear the album as a whole as fresh as possible, and Trivium is one of those bands. Definitely an album i'm looking forward to. Another one that just needs to be released right away is...

Dream Theater - Dream Theater (Set to release Sept. 24th 2013)

Finally, another album with Mangini on drums. I don't know about you, but A Dramatic Turn of Events absolutely blew me away. It had so much energy and passion throughout the entire album and not one track felt boring or "filler-ish". It's funny that both Trivium and Dream Theater have new albums coming out this year since they were touring together, which is a show I definitely did catch by the way, and it was absolutely fantastic. Onto the album, it is rather curious as to why they chose to have this album as a self titled, since with all their other albums being released, you'd think they'd have done it a bit sooner. Though, that doesn't stray away from how excited I am about this. It's been two years since their last release, and I have been craving some more Mangini action. inb4 Portnoy fanboys saying "ohhhh Mangini sucks". To be fair, I don't have Portnoy nor do I show any disrespect for him, but I don't see him being not let back in DT as a viable reason to hate on Mangini, since he is someone who shows a lot of talent. I love Portnoy, but to say it wasn't his fault that DT didn't let him back in is bogus, but I won't go into that. Anyway, this album is surely going to be a "best album of 2013" for me. I'm just hoping they don't disappoint.

Honestly, there aren't a whole lot more albums that I know of that will be coming out this year that I am super excited about. I mean...Daft Punk already released theirs, Bullet For My Valentine released theirs and showed they aren't going to bother trying anymore, and a number of others have been released that have been hit and miss. Had I done a post like this earlier in the year say in January or February, it would have been longer. Who knows, someone can say they're releasing a new album tomorrow and thus I would probably excited.

Anywho, that's all for now, i'll make another post if I find out who else will be releasing something that I will be interested in.

Number 7 out of 15: The Black Keys - Attack & Release



Both this album and the song I posted were the first of my listening to The Black Keys. Needless to say, it really got me in the mood to listen to almost all of their other albums. I had always heard very positive things about this group but never really took the time to really get into them, but when I finally just did it, I started with this album because it just seemed like a good one, and boy was I right. Not to say their other albums are any less enjoyable, they're all very enjoyable. This one in particular just holds a special place in my heart because it just reminds me of when I finally just broke down and listened to them, and at the same time, I was able to see why they get so much talk, because they are amazing. Everything from the vocals, to the distortion, to the acoustic, to just everything else. They manage to pull together everything about this type of music together into something very enjoyable to listen to. I'm not really sure what I was expected to hear when I started listening to them, so I don't really have any disappointments about the group, i'm just happy it was one of those "holy crap, this is why people talk about them" moments. Definitely worth a listen if you're in a late night smooth rock mood (which at this moment it's 1:32 in the morning) and you just want something easy to listen to yet still being enjoyable.

Time to discuss the first page of my top artists on last.fm, and what better way to do that then to talk about each of them and why I like them so much. So let's get right into it.

Taking the #1 spot on my last.fm charts isn't too much of a surprise, the lovely, the beautiful, Elliott Smith. There are not enough words on the earth to describe why I love him so much, his music just hits me to a point that I feel the pain he felt when he was a part of this earth. It's probably fairly obvious as to why he takes the #1 spot on my charts, if it's not obvious, well i'll tell you. As with many artists that I have listened to, he is one of those that I heard a lot about but had no knowledge of his music nor did I even know what he wrote about, but people seemed to find his lyrics to hit really close to him, and holy cow were they right. This man basically wrote songs that can relate to anybody who has dealt with some sort of angst, love, or pain in their life, that's how it hit me anyway, because when I started to listen to him, I was going through a lot in my life, and his music just spoke to me on a level that no other artist could match. Songs like Waltz #2, A Fond Farewell, Needle In The Hay, and many others are prime examples of how incredible a songwriter he was, even if he himself didn't believe it.

I went through a usual phase of trying to find every album, single, b-side, etc. If it had Elliott Smith in the name, you can guarantee it was part of my collection, and it still is. Yes, even this album:

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There's just something seriously charming about an orchestra doing a whole album for an artist that you really love. And so at this point I was already really into Elliott Smith and was curious to hear what an orchestrated version of his songs would sound like. Fortunately, they hit me just as hard as the originals did. They were so phenomenally done and you can tell the group have a passion for make very well managed orchestra covers. Definitely an album to check out if you're interested.

I can pretty much guarantee that all the plays that are recorded on my last.fm for Elliott Smith all came from those weeks I spent listening to JUST him, and nothing else. I used to just spend hours and hours on the computer just browsing while having his music in the background, I even remember sort of freaking out when last.fm decided not to scrobble a couple hours of listening I had done because I knew it wouldn't record it onto last.fm showing how much I listened to him that day, but it became sort of a regular thing to wake up in the morning, get on my computer, and just listen to him all day. Before I knew it, I was singing his music in my head, making special space on my ipod just for his music, and hell...I even got "A Fond Farewell" tattoo'd on my arm just to let people know that he holds a special place in my heart, and always will.

So many of my friends listen to Elliott Smith and are huge fans; can't say enough amazing things about him. I've never actually gotten into him or had a good, in-depth listen to his work :shycouch:

Maybe this post of yours Ki will be just what I need to get started! Do you have any specific recommendations? I would love to see your fond farewell tattoo!

^The albums XO and either/Or are good starter albums however all of them are amazing.

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Nick Drake is in very few words...incredible.

I remember the first time I listened to him, it was with the Pink Moon album. The only song I knew about prior to that was the track titled Pink Moon only because the coffee shops around here play that song multiple times a day, with good reason. It's calm, it's easy listening, and the lyrics are top notch. As soon as I was familiar with that album, I wanted to dive into more of his music, only to come to the realization that he was both no longer with us on this earth, and he only managed to get three studio albums released in his time. I also learned that he was one of those guys who wasn't looking for fame, but gained a lot of it posthumously, which is a damn shame if you really think about it.

After giving the three albums a listen, I came to realize that Bryter Layter is timeless and works with whatever season you're listening to it in. It's got a mixture of slow acoustic songs and upbeat jazz influenced songs, which is a pretty fantastic combination that really makes the album a worthwhile listen from front to back. One notable mention off that album is Poor Boy:



Onto the last album I will mention "Five Leaves Left" is probably my number three album for him, though I don't know how else I would rank it since there's only three albums. It is in no way a terrible album, and with it being his first studio album, it does show what he was going for and how he wanted to be perceived as an artist, unfortunately it doesn't really do it for me as his other two albums do. A few tracks worth mentioning however are The Thoughts of Mary Jane and River Man. If those two songs were mentioned for a Nick Drake's Greatest Hits album, i'd see no problem agreeing with the choices as those two songs are the best on the album, but hey...that's just my opinion.

As a whole, I was more than ecstatic to finally give him a listen, because he's another one of those artists where you see his name thrown around everywhere, but you're not entirely sure what he sounds like or where to start. Personally, it's as easy as just looking for his three studio albums online and listening to them in whatever order you please, because each one has a little something special to offer. If I were to give a recommendation, i'd say start with Pink Moon, only because it captures some of his best moments, but hey...again, that's my opinion. Hell, some could say that Pink Moon is his worst album to start with, but I have no way of knowing for sure which is the best to start with.

As far as live videos go, I have been unsuccessful each and every time and I cannot express my disappointment in words in relation to not being able to find any live footage. He's an artist that I would have loved to see at a live show, or to at least see someone capturing some live footage of him. However, again...he didn't make it very obvious that he was an artist. A lot of his fame came posthumously which is a damn shame. his wikipedia page backs that up as well:

Definitely a man taken way too soon, I mean...the guy was only 26 years old when he died, never even had a chance to allow people to find his music and give it a good listen. Perhaps he was afraid of the fame, or just didn't feel like dealing with the world anymore, much the same could be said about Elliott Smith. Had he been alive today, he would see how much people love his music, but I don't know if that'd be a good thing or a bad thing.

Hey, sweetie, I just wanted to drop this here for you.

It's been in my head all day and I felt like you needed to hear it.



I looked around enough to know that you're the one I wanna go through time with.

It might be a while before you see this, and I can guarantee that I won't even mention it as I curl up in bed with you tonight.

But when you do, I hope it will make your day a little better. I love you. :)

I'm not feeling very creative today so this journal entry may be boring, or it may be interesting. I don't know.

Anyway, for a while, I have been wanting to write a full out album review for Pg.lost's album, Key, but I feel like I have talked far too much about that album that I just don't think writing a review about it will have any difference in relation to anything i've said about the album previously. However, I will add to the previous thoughts i've given about it before by saying that I don't think any other album has caused me to listen to it more than once a day, and you may think that's a bit of an exaggeration, but keep in mind that I walk a lot to and from work, and it's one of the only albums that fits the setting whether it be really early in the morning, or super late at night. It's also one of those albums that I would put in a "if you could choose one album to live off of, what would it be?" list.

Onto another point, I recently did a random google search because if I really like an album, i'd like to get the copy of vinyl for collection sake, and alas...

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I could say that is me holding the record, but I would by lying. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get my hands onto this yet, but I have been making it a priority in terms of music purchases to get this one. The actual record looks awesome, and I can't imagine how it would sound on vinyl, let alone the fact that it sounds amazing already. Once I get a copy of it, i'll post a picture with me in it so I can shower you all with my excitement.

Like I said, this entry isn't too exciting. I guess I could add a photo to the top of it to make it prettier.

It is unfortunate to say that I had to say goodbye to my grandmother last night. She passed away under her own decision because she felt she no longer wanted to live on this world and didn't want to deal with anymore pain. I won't express too much personal information because what I want to point out is how she helped craft my music taste to what it is today. The first time I mentioned to her that I was starting to listen to a lot of music, she told me that I need to listen to The Beatles. She explained that anybody wanting to get into a variety of genres should start with The Beatles. She also told me never to listen to something one time and call it quits, which was a humongous help back then and right now. Once I started listening to them and venturing into more music, she started giving me Beatles related gifts every chance she could. One of the first things she gave me was a VHS of "A Hard Days Night":

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I received that from her a few years ago and still I haven't even watched it, but I do still have it in my possession and now is more of a reason for me to finally sit down and watch it, but first I need to find a VHS player 0_o.

Anyway, another thing she gave me which I have yet to take the shrink wrap off of, is a Beatles themed calendar:

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I don't see any reason why I should open it since it if from 2012, but it is something I am planning to have framed and put onto my wall. One reason being it would be for her, and two...I think it's a fantastic wall piece that would make any room look ten times better.

As much as I would like to get into details, there's no way for me to express into words how I felt last night when I got a text telling me she only has a few hours left. First thought was "damn, she's no longer going to be in my life and she's been there my whole life", and part of me was like "if it makes her happy, it's her decision."

I probably butchered this journal entry because it's not like it's super easy for one to talk about especially something so recent. However, I figured it fit into the theme of my journal since she was a humongous influence in the music I listen to today. And with that, I have decided that today every year will be an honorary Beatles day in her memory.

RIP Grandma. 8/29/2013. 95 years old, and didn't seem a day over 30.

Sorry to hear about your grandma Ki. At least she got to go out as she wanted to, and that must be comforting, to some small degree. Thanks for sharing that personal information with us, can't have been easy. Hang in there!

Thanks TH. Her funeral is on Friday, so I can't tell if that will have more of an emotional effect on me or not. I've never actually been to one.

Yes, Dream Theater. The band that every prog head or music fan seems to have a negative opinion about. Personally, I don't get it, but perhaps I could be enlightened into the minds of those who hold the opinion of them being a bad band. I will say my say on it obviously, what kind of journal entry would this be without my say?

Anyway, I know this question probably gets thrown around a lot, but I really am curious to know why people seem to find them so not listenable. I've seen people say things like "they're an embarrassment to the prog community" or "they say they're prog, but they don't show any prog elements in their music". I don't see any reason for people to repeat those answers as I've seen them thrown around one too many times. However, I will focus on the one where they state that Dream Theater shouldn't be considered a prog band:

No proggy elements in any of their songs? Have you heard Learning To Live? The intro shines with progressive rock, not to mention the entire Octavarium album is one of the best prog albums that I have heard. To say Dream Theater aren't a prog band is like saying Nightwish isn't a symphonic metal band, or Arch Enemy aren't a heavy/death metal band. They all fall under the category of being mis-categorized based on their sound. I will however admit that a couple of DT's albums like Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds & Silver Linings are the last albums I would suggest if someone was interested in hearing the prog side of DT, in that same respect, I would say that every other album before Systematic Chaos and yes this includes When Dreams and Day Unite are shining factors in what I would consider some damn good modern day progressive rock.

With that being said, I don't think it's very fair to say they aren't considered progressive rock when a lot of people hold the opinion that prog was at it's highest ranking in the 70's and 80's, which I don't see much problem admitting to agreeing with that to some extent, but with Dream Theater were obviously not going to get the extent of progressive rock as we did with Yes, Pink Floyd, Caravan, King Crimson and the like, HOWEVER, that doesn't mean they should be shunned out of the progressive rock community just for starting later. I mean...in all fairness, they released their first full length album in 89, so with all due respect, I would consider them more of a modern progressive rock band. And I hold the opinion of their being nothing wrong with using elements from the 70's and 80's and using them in your own music that sounds "newer".

I'll make a point about the popular opinion of DT being a terrible band. I've seen them live. I don't know if that holds much weight in terms of an overall impression, but I don't see the reason to think they are a mediocre band, when they show so much passion and strength in their music. I see that with their studio albums alone, but it increased when I saw them in concert for the first time. They know how to perform, and they know how to make the crowd happy.

Anyway, I'm interested in other people's views as I've left it for open discussion.

Hit & Miss of 2013 so far (will be updated frequently)

Hit:
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Descent
Rob Zombie - Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
Black Sabbath - 13
Tesseract - Altered State
Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
Megadeth - Super Collider
City & Colour - The Hurry And The Harm
Sigur Ros - Kveikur

Miss:
Bullet For My Valentine - Temper Temper
Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal
Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve

Still need to listen to:
Blackfield - Blackfield IV
Asking Alexandria - From Death To Destiny
Trivium - Vengeance Falls
Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Omnium Gatherum - Beyond
David Bowie - The Next Day
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine

Two Sigur Ros albums released a year apart from each other, something I personally wasn't expecting from them. When Valtari was announced and the it had been getting to the last couple days before it's released, I was beyond excited as it became one of my favorites of 2012. Kveikur came as sort of a surprise as I was not expecting to see another Sigur Ros album out for at least another year or two, and even that would have been expecting too much. I figured a head to head comparison would be the right thing to do in this situation.

Starting with Kveikur as it's more than likely going to be the short end of the stick in this review. I really dug the approach that they went with this album, it seemed like a polar opposite of Valtari which was perfectly fine. It had a lot of the rich Sigur Ros sounds to be expected, but I didn't actually expect it to be as heavy as it was. It starts out really well, but I found myself getting very bored with it and seemed to just be waiting for it to finally end. One of the main reasons for that is it doesn't flow very well. Keep in mind, I'm used to the flow of Takk..., and Valtari, and probably some others that i'm forgetting to mention. Kveikur just didn't have that effect. I've given it at least 6 or so listens so it's not like I haven't given it a chance, I have, but I find myself going back and listening to Takk..., Valtari, and even Von, only because of the mellow Sigur Ros sound that I love. Not the most major disappointment of 2013, but I wouldn't rate Kveikur any higher than decent on a rating scale.

Now to discuss Valtari, which in my opinion made 2012 a very very good year, especially adding to the pile of other fantastic releases that were put out in the same year. Upon listening to it for the first time, I found myself saying in my head over and over, "Sigur Ros have definitely done it again", and things like "this album is one of their best by far", and it remains to be that way a year later. It's got the flow, the mellow sound, the beautiful vocal/instrument mixture that I expect to hear from them, and it's just an all around enjoyable album. It feels new every time I hear it, which is always a plus since it doesn't seem to ever get boring. Definitely worthy of a spot in my "top albums of 2012".

As far as both albums go, I feel like what they were attempting to do was to make one mellow album and one heavy album, which is absolutely fine. I am of the understanding that they wanted to do two albums completely different from each other, but it's just not even close to what I would expect from this band. I'll still listen to Kveikur every now and then, but it's not something I will hold much praise for.

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I believe it is time to review an album that just about made me cringe in how terrible it was. Bullet For My Valentine's Temper Temper. I know there's a lot of people out there that will say something like..."were you really expecting something good?". In my defense, I found their three previous albums to be a touch above decent, but this one...this one just makes me wonder what the hell they were trying to accomplish, however that would make one assume that they were actually trying. It seriously lacks in everything that would even allow me to consider it a worthy album worth listening to. The guitarist uses cliche guitar solos and the typical metalcore guitar sounds that one would expect to hear from a band like Bring Me The Horizon, at least they admit to being a part of the genre so it's okay. Lyrically, I don't even want to talk about it but I will only to further my point in how bad I thought this was. For example...taken from the chorus of Dead To The World:

"Lost without hope
Hope is now lost"

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Need I say more? Like...really? You're going to start the chorus by just reversing what you said in the first line? Not even that, but the way it's delivered just makes me cringe every time, and of course the rest of the chorus goes as follows:

"As I hang on for one more tomorrow
Hearts turned to black
I'm not coming back
I know I can't last
'Cause I feel like I'm dead to the world"

This chorus seems like it was taken directly from the mind of some pre pubescent child who is now discovering that he might be emo, and poetry is his way of expressing that interest.

I was really hoping for something at least halfway decent mostly because I found Temper Temper (single) to be pretty damn good. I liked it, and it showed potential for a pretty fun album, but when the album was released, I immediately commented by saying that I was very happy to have gotten the album for free, or else I would have demanded to get my money back. I'd had rather bought a lifetime supply of trash than to support the band for this album. I know that may seem a bit harsh, but if you've listened to this album fully, you'll understand that it's not too unreal to think such things.

There's not much more to say. The only way you should listen to this album, is for free. Don't even bother trying to support the band for it.

Hit & Miss of 2013 so far (UPDATE 9/11/2013)

Hit:
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Descent
Rob Zombie - Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
Black Sabbath - 13
Tesseract - Altered State
Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
Megadeth - Super Collider
City & Colour - The Hurry And The Harm
Asking Alexandria - From Death To Destiny
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King

Miss:
Bullet For My Valentine - Temper Temper
Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal
Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve
Sigur Ros - Kveikur

Still need to listen to:
Blackfield - Blackfield IV
Trivium - Vengeance Falls
Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Omnium Gatherum - Beyond
David Bowie - The Next Day
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine

Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ltotheKing.png

Talk about showing the world what you are truly capable of. Avenged Sevenfold's album Hail To The King has quickly become one of my top albums of the year. From the first song to the last one, there's only one song that isn't as strong as the rest, and it's Requiem. I don't know, it just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the album. I do like the attempt and the style they were trying to go for, but for this band, it just doesn't really work. But with any good Avenged album, it's got to have a ballad, and Crimson Day does the job in being one of the best ballads I have heard in the metal/rock genre. Though, they've never not delivered a good ballad. I was in the same boat as a lot of people where you just didn't want to hear another Avenged Sevenfold album mostly for the fact that it's never really enjoyable, however I did find a lot of enjoyment out of Nightmare, but anything before that isn't too fantastic. But, I hold the opinion that if you've sworn off Avenged Sevenfold for good, take that back and listen to this album, you'll find something you like from it, easily.

There's one specific thing that I noticed about this album when it was released. I was saying things like "wow, this sounds just like [insert band here] etc etc. Only to find that that is exactly what they were going for. I've seen quotes being thrown around from the band that they wanted to pay tribute to the band they are heavily influenced by, and in doing so, making an album that shows those influences very strongly. I listened to it again once I learned that, and I have come to the conclusion that they did a fantastic job in doing so.

Not only is the album enjoyable and heavy and fun to listen to, it's got a concept that is beautiful and awesome and attributed very well. I hope they keep to this sound in their future albums, and perhaps keep on the trend of using strong concepts to their advantage. They've got the talent for it, and this album showcases that very well.

Hit & Miss of 2013 so far (UPDATE 9/18/2013)

Hit:
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Descent
Rob Zombie - Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
Black Sabbath - 13
Tesseract - Altered State
Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
Megadeth - Super Collider
City & Colour - The Hurry And The Harm
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
God Is An Astronaut - Origins
David Bowie - The Next Day

Miss:
Bullet For My Valentine - Temper Temper
Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal
Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve
Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Asking Alexandria - From Death To Destiny

Still need to listen to:
Blackfield - Blackfield IV
Trivium - Vengeance Falls
Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Omnium Gatherum - Beyond
Linkin Park - Living Things
Deep Purple - Now What?!
Joe Satriani - Unstoppable Momentum
Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

--Keep in mind, some albums may shift from Hit/Miss to Miss/Hit with the more listens I give the albums. The final list won't be submitted until the last day of 2013, so expect constant changes overtime.--

Number 8 out of 15: Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison



With the unfortunate lack of effort put into their recent album "Temper Temper", I figured it'd be worthwile to mention an album or two of theirs that I really do enjoy from them, one of which being "The Poison". At first finding out about this band, I had people telling me from left to right "don't even bother, this band sucks", but i'm not one to take an opinion about a band too seriously before even giving the band a listen. At the time, I found their music rather enjoyable, so I went on one of those wonderful listening sprees and decided that I really did and do like this band. The Poison being the first album I ever listened to, was also my introduction to the band, so in many ways it was an overall good experience with the band. Tears Don't Fall, All These Things I Hate, and many others are top notch tracks on the album, and as a whole, the album is very fun and enjoyable to listen to. Years past and I still find myself giving this album a listen for old times sake. It's got a bit of a nostalgic feel to it now which in it's own respect, makes it an even more fun album to listen to.

With very minimal research, I also came to find that this album was their debut, which brings up the question..."what happened???". With releases like Scream Aim Fire, and Fever coming after their debut, why was Temper Temper so bad? I mean...it's not just me that thinks that, it's the popular opinion as well as the opinion of most critics. I won't go too far into this one since I already did a review of the album.

I hope the negative reviews they received about that album will hopefully wake them up and get back into the days of The Poison, because that's the only way I can see them redeem themselves. Now that I think of it, I don't even own a copy of The Poison, but I constantly remind myself how much fun the opening riff to Tears Don't Fall is to play.

If I were to only have one album by them on a stranded island, it'd be this one. And maybe i'd sneak Scream Aim Fire with me.

So if you're lonely, you know I'm here waiting for you.


Franz Ferdinand. A band well known across many music boards and websites of the like. But what is it about them that makes them so appealing? Is it their sound? Is it their ability to keep with the music they like? Well...

...Personally, I find them to be one of the greatest indie rock bands to come around in the last 15 years. Since 2004, they've released four albums including their debut Franz Ferdinand. Since then, it may seem to some people that they haven't grown musically or changed, but in this case, I find that they have grown, if only for the fact that they've gotten to the point that they will create music for the sheer enjoyment of what they like. With their recent release, "Right Words, Right Thoughts, Right Action" that remains to be true. I was skeptical at first because it had been a few years since their last release which I really really enjoyed, and at the time of hearing about their new material, I was hoping they didn't sell out and give in to temptation and release an album that is poor to the ears. That was not the case however, since "Right Words, Right Thoughts, Right Action" has quickly become one of their more mature, and easily listenable album in their catalog. They've grown since 2002, both as a band, and lyrically throughout their albums. The new material is nothing short of amazing, and I can only hope it gets better the more I listen to it, as it most likely will.

As a band, I don't know if there is much hype about them since I'm only going from personal experience. I see their name being dropped many times, and it's rare to see someone speak of them in a negative way, even if it is to discuss a few songs. I remember when they released their debut in 2004, I was all over it, because I had seen the video for "Take Me Out" many times on MTV and I thought the video alone was awesome. It convinced me enough to listen to the album as a whole, and to no surprise, it was amazing.

The verdict for this band is probably obvious, but i'll say it anyway:

http://i39.tinypic.com/lfyfd.png

They are definitely worth the hype they receive even if it isn't much to begin with. But when people speak about them, it's no surprise that they receive such positive feedback. I have yet to see them live, but I know people who have, and they are said to put on a fantastic show. With the new album out, I'm hoping they can make their way over to the lovely rainy city, so that I have a chance to see them.

I think it's time to start talking about live shows, specifically ones I have been to and ones I have been so very fortunate to see. I do consider myself lucky for some of them, and others I am just happy I have seen and have seen multiple times. I'll start off with one that has a great story leading up to it, and will always mark one of the best moments in my life.

Tool (Everett Events Center)

http://blog.mlive.com/xbutton/2008/0...ol_band222.jpg

I have a really cool story for this one, so I figured it'd be a good way to start. A few years ago, my dad had informed me that Tool would be playing at the Everett Events Center in Washington. That alone got me excited about the fact that Tool are FINALLY making their way over here and I may have a chance to see them perform live. About a week passed and my dad told me that I should call the Everett Events Center to order some tickets to go to the show because him and I were both completely convinced that we wanted to go. That next morning, I decided to give the venue a call, and I was on hold for what felt like 3 hours at least. After the first hour had passed I was feeling a bit nervous and I wasn't convinced that I would get through to get some tickets because I imagine the phone lines were beyond busy. About another hour passed and my phone went silent, and I hear "hello, welcome to the Everett Events Center phone line, how may I assist you?", at that point I almost lost it, I told the nice lady that I was interested in purchasing four (yes, FOUR) Tool tickets, she informed me that I was a very lucky man because she says that I was one of the last people to have a chance to have gotten a ticket, let alone four. I gave them the credit card number my dad provided, and she confirmed that there will be four Tool tickets arriving at my address in a week or so. I was literally about to scream at that point because something like this had never happened to me, and it made me realize that patience can really be worth it. That afternoon when my dad got home from work, I was playing a little game with him and told him I couldn't get a Tool ticket, but instead I got FOUR. He was super excited and extremely happy to hear the good news since he was expecting the worst, as anybody would.

Now for the show. The track line up was as follows:

They didn't hold anything back, they played all the songs I had hoped they would play and I got to see the beautiful combination of Wings for Marie and 10,000 Days performed live. I had absolutely fallen in love with that mix when the album was released, but I had no way thought that I'd see it performed live. So that was cool. The best part of the entire show was easily the light show. Tool have been known to have some amazing album art and artwork in general, and to see the ENTIRE stage covered in the corresponding album art, was just amazing. It wasn't just the TV's above them that were showing the images, they had the stage, the reflections on the drums, etc all covered in the art work that corresponded to the album that they were performing. People have told me that Maynard Keenan hadn't been at his best during their time in Seattle, but he was nothing short of amazing. He stayed in the back because he doesn't want the main focus on him, he wants people to appreciate the guitarist, and the rest of the band. Truly an amazing experience and one of the best concerts I have seen.

Keep an eye on this because I do have many other shows that I have been very fortunate to see. This is just one of them, and I have stories for each one.

Well it looks like i'm having another case of writers block. I've been trying to write an entry that involves around Rob Zombie's recent activity, but I can't seem to get the words to form, so instead, I guess i'll just lightly mention them and talk about them, that's the best I can do.

So...first off, we have Rob Zombie's recent music album Venemous Rat Regeneration Vendor. It's no surprise that the man is still active as he never seems to get stale with each album he releases, this one being in that category as well, seeing as this new album is possibly one of his heaviest albums to date, and that includes Hellbilly Deluxe, and that also includes my opinion of Hellbilly Deluxe which is kept in very high regard towards the album. As far as the album goes in general, it's definitely one of the most creative and headache inducing from headbanging album I have heard all year. The flow is awesome, Rob Zombie's voice does not stray away from his heavy nasty gritty sound, and of course, you get the typical movie scenes in the music structure that you would find in any Rob Zombie album. In my top 10 of the year, and along with this album was a movie that I mentioned earlier, respectfully titled...

Lords of Salem

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lem-teaser.jpg

A review is pending on this movie since I have yet to see this, but I wanted to mention it since both the movie and the music album were released this year close to one another.

Hit:
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Descent
Rob Zombie - Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
Black Sabbath - 13
Tesseract - Altered State
Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
Megadeth - Super Collider
City & Colour - The Hurry And The Harm
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
God Is An Astronaut - Origins
David Bowie - The Next Day
Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

Miss:
Bullet For My Valentine - Temper Temper
Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal
Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve
Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Asking Alexandria - From Death To Destiny
Deep Purple - Now What?!

Still need to listen to:
Blackfield - Blackfield IV
Trivium - Vengeance Falls
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Omnium Gatherum - Beyond
Linkin Park - Living Things
Joe Satriani - Unstoppable Momentum
Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

Something I can't stand is why people should be allowed to cover songs and do a terrible job at them. There are a lot out there that really just make me want to rip my ears off, and I figured this would be a great place to discuss it. Unfortunately, I also hear them everyday at work (retail radio is exhausting after a while), so I have no problem remembering the ones I wish to discuss, and more will come i'm sure.

Anyway, let's start with this one...

American Pie
Original: Don McLean
Cover: Madonna
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...inglecover.jpg

This is one of those examples of songs that I have to listen to everyday because it plays everyday at work. American Pie is a classic, and was released on the American Pie album in 1971. For some ungodly reason, there was a cover released of the same song by Madonna. Now...don't get so antsy, I don't have anything against Madonna, nor do I think she has a terrible voice, but...why in gods name did she think it was of acceptable behavior to cover an already perfectly performed song? She has her own music career, so she should just stick to what she already knows. I don't care if the reasoning had anything to do with "wanting to bring back a classic", because this isn't one of those instances where it's acceptable, at least in my unchanging opinion. Don McLean released it and that's the way it should have stayed. I see no reason for an already perfect song to be released by anybody else.

Madonna is a big name, I get that, and people wouldn't think twice if they heard her cover because not a lot of people born in the last 20 years recognize Don McLean nor would they be able to get an image in their head of what he looks like. In my opinion, and not only with this song, their should be a disclaimer before a cover is played either on the radio or whatever, someone should start by saying "this song is a cover of [song name] by [artist]", that way there is still some connection with the original artist, instead of people just hearing the cover and thinking it's the original. Will that ever happen? Probably not. Will terrible covers seize to exist? Hell no. But that's just how the world works. Stay tuned for more.

http://i42.tinypic.com/e0iiba.png

It's that time again! This song has been stuck in my head for the last week or so, and it feels amazing to finally be able to listen to it.

Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now


This song is so damn catchy, and I was familiar with Thompson Twins before hearing this song, but this song plays at my work all the time, and it plays at the grocery store a lot, so i'm never really too far from hearing it over and over again. I've got no problem listening to it either, it's by an awesome 80's group, it's got that catchy 80's sound, and it's just an all around great song.

With the year coming close to it's final months, bands and solo artists are still finding ways to get their new material out before the year ends. Here's a few more that I am eager to listen to:

Paul McCartney - New

Yes, the album is titled "New", and for someone as legendary as Sir Paul McCartney, I see no problem with such a cliche album title. The album is actually said to be released on the 14th, so upon finding out about it (yesterday), I went to look and see when it's said to be released, and was very excited about the short wait. I, unfortunately don't listen to Paul McCartney as I should, but I do know he's still going strong and that I really should get onto listening to his music. Hearing the single "New" has already gotten me excited, and am very eager to get my sweaty palms on the new album. It's going to be good.

AFI - Burials

AFI is a band that I have not listened to in years, and not for the reason that I think they're bad, I just never got interested in them again since Decemberunderground. Perhaps this new album will relinquish that feeling and I'll come to be a fan again. I'm really looking forward to this album though mostly because I just want to hear if it's any different than what I heard from them a few years back.

Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2

This is one of those albums that I hope makes my top list of 2013, because I am always ready to hear new material from Eminem. I remember really enjoying Recovery, and I remember how much I hated Relapse, but hey...it's understandable. I haven't listened to any of the singles released from this album because I really don't want to have the album feel stale once I get it. I want it to feel complete and new. Looking forward to this one.

Trivium - Vengeance Falls

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ls_Artwork.jpg

After absolutely loving In Waves, I was pretty dead set on the fact that Trivium may not release that great of an album again, and than they release Vengeance Falls. I'm not really a huge fan of the album title, it sounds very cliche, but others have said the opposite, so it may just be me.

This is one of the albums I was looking forward to this year, and I am very happy it has delivered as good as it has. When I heard it'd be produced by David Draiman, I was a little skeptical since I didn't want this album to sound like a Disturbed knock off, but it doesn't really have that feel to it. It's definitely got the heavy factor that I have come to expect from this band, perhaps more than I was expecting. Guitar solos are definitely top notch, and Matt Heafy has always been pretty good lyrically. It's not even close to the atrocious lyrics of Temper Temper (Bullet for my Valentine).

I really enjoy listening to a Trivium album over and over again, because I feel like the replay value allows to hear different things each time, and I find myself being surprised by new things each time. For example, when I first heard Shogun, I didn't find a lot of enjoyment out of it, but I got around to listening to it again a few weeks ago, and it blew my socks off. I wasn't even sure what it was that I didn't like about it, but it became irrelevant. Same thing with The Crusade.

I already have a lot of favorite tracks off Vengeance Falls, but the one that sticks out the most is probably Strife. It starts off beautifully, and keeps the shock value of heavy above anything else throughout the entire song. And again, the lyrics are pretty top notch. As mentioned before, this album definitely does a good job at that, I don't find the lyrics corny in any way.

In terms of where this album lays on the scale of favorite albums by them, it probably still sits under In Waves (being number 1) only because In Waves surprised me in so many ways, one being the fact that it is such a long album, and each song has it's own individuality that makes it such an enjoyable album. This one has that same effect, but it stills feels very new, perhaps the placement of this album will change over time, but I have definitely enjoyed listening to this album, and waiting the whole year has been more than worth it. Very happy with this, and can't wait to get myself a copy.