Key

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...



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.

Key

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":



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:



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.

Trollheart

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!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Key

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.

Key

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.

Key

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

Key

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.

Key

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"



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.

Key

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

Key

Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King



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.