You think we look pretty good together

I’ve liked The Who ever since I discovered them via Green Day’s cover of “A Quick One While He’s Away,” the first ever miniopera that inspired the other 2 songs on American Idiot. And I’ve recently been relistening to their first live album Live At Leeds (the deluxe edition of course). I do that thing like Maria, except of different bands, I get into certain albums. Last few weeks it’s been Pleased To Meet Me, and before that it was something else. I can’t remember. Anyways, all of the musicians of The Who are excellent. I mean, Pete Townshend (guitar) is the main personality of the band (he writes all of the music, unlike most bands where the singer writes all of it) and he’s an amazing guitarist (he perfected the original guitar smashing), but the rhythm section is just as awesome. It seems like all of them are soloing at the same time, as Keith Moon (drummer) thrashes like there’s no tomorrow (ironically he’s dead), and although John Entwistle (bassist) just stands in place while he plays (no walking, no jumping, no nothing), but boy can he play. He is one of the loudest bass players I’ve ever heard, and sometimes his super-twangy bass overpowers the guitar. I don’t feel like reviewing the whole album this time, because I’m tired and I just don’t feel like it. Almost all of Tommy is performed on the second disc, and they barely take breaks between songs. The album is a bit better, in my opinion, but much less energetic than this epic performance of the rock opera. On the studio album, they have all of these effects, and even a horn section (played by Entwistle), but at Leeds, they have three instruments; guitar, bass, and drums. “Tommy’s Holiday Camp,” although a 57 second circus joke on the album (it has a banjo), turns into a 60 second stomp, that while still sounds like a joke, is accented by Keith Moon’s maniacal laughter (Tre Cool bears many similarities to Moon). “Sparks” is basically a 4 minute jam session, but it turns out very well, especially when they incorporate some of the 10 minute instrumental “Underture” (ha ha, over and under… no?) into it. On the main album, they have bloody brilliant (British enough for you, mates?) renditions of “Young Man Blues” (sort of a “Black Dog” kind of call and response thing with a just as rockin’ riff), “Summertime Blues” (upbeat blues rock thing carried by the bass), and especially “My Generation,” their signature song (about how adults don’t understand “our generation.” Actually, I don’t either) with a big in-your-face grungy bass solo (at about 50 seconds) followed by a nearly 15 minute long medley of songs that you’ve never heard of, but still sound great (if you can sit through it). The last song of the show, “Magic Bus,” is also great. It starts with a clacking noise (Moon banging two wooden blocks together) and then Townshend comes in with a cool echo effect. Then a stuttering bass on A. At 3:20, the whole thing basically explodes into this giant noise thing, where everybody solos (and it sounds great too) and the song sporadically uses loud and soft dynamics. Where have we heard that before? Live At Leeds isn’t the best Who album. That distinction belongs to either Who’s Next or Quadrophenia (sorry Tommy), their second rock opera about a Mod named Jimmy, who has 4 different personalities. That makes Green Day seem a little… tamer, I guess. “Baba O’Riley” is easily the best song on Who’s Next (although the version on the soundtrack The Kids Are Alright is superior), but “Sea And Sand” from Quadrophenia is probably my favorite Who song. The vocals are some of the best Roger Daltrey has ever done (he’s the singer… I really hope I didn’t have to establish that), especially during the verses, where the protagonist reminisces about his former girlfriend. Anyway... here's some video of the actual concert at Leeds. Click here.

In other news, Pearl Jam’s album Ten sucks. Vs. is way better. The single version of Weezer’s Keep Fishin’ is better than the album version on Maladroit. And I don’t hate New Guns N’ Roses that much anymore; they have Tommy Stinson. Join Green Day Community! You can download so much stuff. I’m tired now. And I had a lot of ice cream, so I’m kind of thirsty. Keep your riches, gimme a Budweiser!

The Strokes + Panic! At the Disco



From: http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/02/the-strokes-angles1.jpg





From: http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/4979948a229389f5d3523812dba6f9a4350aa174.jpg



What do these two bands have in common? Really hot lead singers? True, but no. I have been going through a phase where I'm obsessed with a band and I listen to nothing but them for like a week and then go back to listening to a little bit of everything. This week it was Panic! At the Disco and The Strokes. So I've liked The Strokes for quite awhile and I just can't seem to get enough of Julian Casablanca's voice and the short, clipped sounding guitar. Panic! At the Disco on the other hand I had heard before, and was like meh. But then again it was only Nine in the Afternoon, which I an okay good song at best. Panic! At the Disco's other songs are SO MUCH BETTER. I listened to all of Vices and Virtues and one of my favorites has to be "Trade Mistakes". It reminds me of The Killers for some reason, and is such a musical and melodic song. Kind of like being on Ecstasy and having a really good dream that you don't want to wake up from. Also good songs are "Memories" and "Hurricane" (which of course is about sex). I also listened to all of Angles by The Strokes and found that while there were really good songs, there were also songs I could care less about. A few standouts from Angles are "Machu Picchu" and "Life is Simple in the Moonlight". Of course "Under the Cover of Darkness" is pretty catchy. I have to say though, I applaud The Strokes for moving forward in their music and developing it more fully, but I still think that First Impressions of  Earth was better (I don't think there was a single song on that album that I didn't like).



Well, anyways, <3 The Strokes and <3 Panic! At the Disco.



Why Don't You Kill Yourself?

I’m starting to like this one band, The Only Ones. Y’know, the punk band who wrote “Another Girl, Another Planet,” which my band covered (and what I think is my 2^nd favorite song ever now)? Yeah. They’re not that well known, but some of their videos on YouTube have a substantial number of views (more than mine, at least). Peter Perrett’s voice is very unique; it’s kind of a thick British accent crossed with a snarl. I find some of my favorite singers, ex: Kurt Cobain, Paul Westerberg, Mark Arm (don’t know who he is? Here’s an example), have some pretty abrasive voices. I don’t know why, it just kind of works out like that. Anyway, some of their other great songs include “No Peace For The Wicked” (which has a pretty awesome guitar solo, especially THIS LIVE VERSION at OGWT, whatever that means.), “Lovers Of Today,” “City Of Fun” (which has got to be the lamest song title of all time, but it isn’t a bad song), and “Why Don’t You Kill Yourself” (which may seem like an answer to “I Hate Myself And I Want To Die,” but this one was written 10 years before the other the awesome Nirvana tune). It’s always fun to find little known bands that nobody’s ever heard of. It's usually kind of hard to find stuff about them (I couldn't find a single download of "No Peace For The Wicked" where you didn't have to sign up for the stupid site), but you get this weird or good or something kind of feeling when people say “Who?” like they’ve never heard of that group. Like you did after the first sentence of this post. Shut up, of course you didn’t know who The Only Ones were. Okay, you might have known who they were because of “Another Girl, Another Planet,” but you didn’t know ANY other songs by them. Admit it. And I bet you don’t know who Peter Perrett is either. Good night. And have fun studying for SAT Bio, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Panic! -ing

I'm currently obsessed with Panic! At the Disco. Yes, I realized that they are pretty mainstream and pop-ish, but I have "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" stuck in my head and Brendon Urie's voice is just so AMAZING. <3 I'm not a huge fan of their theatricality (yes, I get that that's a big part of Panic! At the Disco, but still) their music however is a different story. So far, I like what I've heard. Unlike most, I like the new Panic! At the Disco better than the Panic! before two of the band members left. Pretty. Odd. has a Beatles-ish vibe that is pretty odd. (Nine in the Afternoon is on Rockband 2, just FYI and it's from Pretty. Odd. and it's a pretty good song) A Fever You Can't Sweat Out on the other hand is a little too emo for me. Vices and Virtues is PERFECT. I'll probably post again after I've listened to the entirety of Vices and Virtues.

What I love more than Panic! At the Disco is Panic! At the Disco acoustic.
Great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s-Qcx6byfs

My Nightmare Would Be Living Without A7X

So Leonard blogged earlier about Nightmare and convinced me to listen to it. I have to say, the first time through I thought it was just okay but after a few listens, I thinks I'm addicted. I love the vocal harmonies and the heavy guitar riffs. My favorite songs on the album are probably "Fiction", "Victim" and "So Far Away". All are on the mellow side and are not really "heavy metal" perse. But anyways, they are good songs "Fiction" has a killer piano intro that is simple but incredibly powerful. IDK why, it just is. "Save Me" is also pretty good, albeit slightly "meh-ish" at first. Overall though, Nightmare is an album worth buying or just listening to. I have to say though, the title track "Nightmare" is a little monotonous. Anyhow, I think I will be listening to more Avenged Sevenfold...

Means of contact P.O. Box 8941

Got a few CDs today. Yes, at Rasputin’s. Since you guys always ask what I get, I might as well detail them here. But they’re just going to be first impressions, so bear with me. Or not.

First one: Hootenanny. By The Replacements. Again. It’s their second album, and it is pretty good. It’s not as great as Let It Be or Tim, but most of the tracks are pretty interesting. The title track is kind of sloppy, but considering that all of the band members switch instruments, and all Paul Westerberg does (besides play drums) is repeat the title. During the whole song. There’s also “Run It,” which is very energetic, and only lasts about a minute. And “Color Me Impressed,” which is pretty much a pop rock song. The song that stood out to me the most was “Lovelines,” which is a catchy, upbeat, shuffle blues thing with Paul reading from the news. He doesn’t even sing, but it still feels like it is in rhythm to the song. Pity it’s only 2 minutes. Then again, it would get tedious if it was longer. I guess it’s better to leave them wanting more.

Next; Ocean Eyes, by Yellowcard. I have no idea why I got this. Maybe because it was $1.95. It’s not particularly interesting, but it’s not bad, not bad at all. Apparently Yellowcard has a violinist, which is almost unheard of in a “so-called” punk band, but it fits in nicely with some of the ballad-ish songs, like “View From Heaven.” “Miles Apart” is also catchy.

I also got a soundtrack to a movie. It’s a romantic comedy about a bunch of 20-somethings and their love problems. Doesn’t sound like me, does it? Well, I bought the Footloose soundtrack before, so this doesn’t seem so bad. Then again, most of the songs on the soundtrack for Singles is from the early 1990s grunge era, so there. All of the big names are here; Pearl Jam (“Breath” is pretty good), Alice In Chains, Mudhoney, Soundgarden… Well, all of them except Nirvana. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was supposed to be used, but when it got famous, the royalties got too expensive. There are also a few artists like Jimi Hendrix and Paul Westerberg that seem out of place, but it doesn’t matter, since their songs are good too (especially Paul’s “Dyslexic Heart”).

Return of the Rentals is basically a new wave album. That’s what it sounds like to me, at least. The Rentals are fronted by Matt Sharp, who you would know if you were paying attention to one of my previous posts (no, he is not one of Nirvana’s drummers). It’s kind of boring, and definitely not as exciting as The Cars, but Return of the Rentals has songs that it would feel good to sit in a hammock and rock back and forth too (“My Summer Girl”).

Do you know who The Presidents of the United States are? They’re a power pop/post-grunge band that don’t even play guitar or bass. They play a “basitar” and a “guitbass,” which sound ridiculous, but add effect to their short, stupid (in a great way), often humorous songs. What do you expect from a band whose first single is “F*ck California”? Unfortunately, that song is not their debut album, which I got. You may have heard of “Lump” on Pandora, but another great song is “Kick Out The Jams,” which has a cool riff and great drum parts.

The Who is one of those classic rock bands that still sound relevant today. All of their musicians are insanely good (John Entwistle is one of my all time favorite bassists) Their soundtrack (again!) to their documentary The Kids Are Alright is able to stand on it’s own as a great (but at times inconsistent) live album with great versions of stuff like “My Generation,” where the bass drum explodes (I’m not kidding; Keith Moon filled it with explosives), “My Wife,” and a couple of tracks recorded in the studio (the live tapes didn’t work); “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which sound alive (I can’t think of a better word, I know it’s redundant), compared the versions on Who’s Next (great album, by the way).

Wednesday, October 13^th, 1982

Volume 4, Number 79

Dream Theater's new drummer O__O

I apologize for not posting anything for a while... so, let's go ahead and jump into the hot topic of Dream theater's newest member, Mike Mangini.

Wow. For those of you who are not exactly familiar w/ Dream theater, you should know that the 5 of them were a very close band and Portnoy's leaving was extremely spontaneous. According to James LaBrie, in the "The spirit carries on" episodes, they have been part of the same band for 25 years. All their children knew each other and they've been at each other's weddings. Pretty much, they were pretty much a family. The fact that Portnoy might be leaving never even crossed their minds. So you can imagine the rest of the band members' faces after he made the announcement.

The thing that I really respect about Dream Theater is that they had the same members for 25 years and didn't go crazy. There is a certain level of maturity in their music which I really value. Anyhow, because Dream Theater is Dream Theater and will not play the "temporary musician game", they found the best 7 drummers in the world and decided to hold an audition. (If you're interested in watching these amazing auditions, visit Dream Theater's youtube channel) Dream Theater also made it very clear to the public that Mike Mangini is a permanent member as far as they're concerned, so, we'll be seeing some crazy drum parts from Dream Theater over the course of a couple years.

Recently I'm hearing this crazy news about people either siding with Avenged Sevenfold or Dream Theater. Perhaps this is because of the whole Mike Portnoy plays drums for A7x's Nightmare album which I talked about a few days ago. Personally, I think they're both great, I have greater respect for DT, but A7x has pretty awesome music as well. Instead of deciding which one is better, I think we should try and support both ^^

Y'all should listen to "The Dance of Eternity", "A Nightmare to Remember", and "Honor thy Father". Those are probably my favorite out of DT. If you're looking for something a little more "Pink Floyd-ish", then try "The Spirit Carries On". (not the auditions btw.)

Anyhow, Maria, call me when you're feeling a little better so that I can fill you in on some of the crazy stuff we did at school.

I'm dumb, she's a lesbian

Hey Maria! Hope you are feeling better since you were “sick.” You missed our Jazz Band in the quad during break. I bet that was on purpose, huh? It’s okay, lots of other people didn’t donate.

If Weezer (Blue) is Nevermind, then their sophomore album Pinkerton is In Utero. While the Blue Album and Nevermind were both huge commercial successes and revolutionary, when Pinkerton was released, it was a commercial and critical failure, and the readers of The Rolling Stone voted it the 2^nd worst album of 1996 (jazz hands!). I assume part of this reason is that Pinkerton was self-produced (they recorded the album by themselves, Leonard) and has rougher mixing than their first album (similar to In Utero). It was also originally going to be a “rock opera” like the Green Day things called “Songs from the Black Hole.” Either way, Pinkerton ended up much more personal than the Blue Album, and thus, much better (in a less accessible way).

First is the song “Tired Of Sex,” which immediately shows how much different the album is going to be. Instead of singing to entertain the listener, Rivers seems to be yelling out his frustrations with pointless groupies and trying to find true love, while his band mates echo his sorrows. The recording has very good dynamics (although in the “tracking rough” version, included on the deluxe edition of the album, the band sounds tighter, specifically the bass and drums), and is a surprisingly good start to the album.

If “Tired Of Sex” didn’t scare away the ignorant, casual listener that bought it because they liked the first album, then “Getchoo” almost certainly will. It is certainly the darkest song on the album, with the title viciously repeated during the chorus. But dig a bit deeper, and you will find some cool melodies.

“No Other One” is a bit slower than the first two, and a bit poppier also. It’s a bit boring at times, but the verse is pretty. Yes, pretty. But because the rest of the album is so great, this is designated as filler(ish).

If you bailed out already, you missed out the best part of Pinkerton; the next 5 songs. “Why Bother starts out with a dark sounding bass and drums, but is the first actually “pop-rock” song on the album, and would fit in on the Blue Album quite nicely, if the production was cleaner. In the song, Rivers sings (happily, for some reason) about a very short sexual relationship that will inevitably end up with the girl leaving him. The song is almost Green Day-ish, and could even be part of Dookie, with a few changes here and there. And it’s one of my favorites.

“Across The Sea” is actually the most emotional song on the album. There’s a piano thing, then the piano plays the same notes that Rivers sings, creating a cool effect. The song has a hopeful/longing tone as Rivers sings about a love in Japan that he will never see, and it combines the elements of a love ballad and the epicness (fail word) of an electric anthem into one package. The solo is just as poignant as the vocals, and the little “pretty” interlude after it sets you to be blindsided by the final verse and chorus, which sound even better than the others.

It’s hard to follow a song on an album like “Across The Sea,” but “The Good Life” does it rather well. It is a well-made single that never hit it’s mark (Pinkerton was a commercial failure, remember?). The verse is distinguished by a punchy bass that is sadly kind of muted in the “radio remix” version, and the chorus is a very good pop sing-a-long, that has a message of wanting to go back to when times were better. And that seems completely relevant now.

If there is one “stupid” song on the record, it is “El Scorcho.” The tile almost says it all. Somebody gargles at the beginning of the song, the riff is a joke, someone else crows the title like a rooster, and the first lyric of the song is “Goddam you half-japanese girls.” But it is very catchy. The chorus is just as good of a sing-a-long as “The Good Life,” and the solo is funny.

“Pink Triangle” is probably a tie with “Across the Sea” (and to a certain extent, “Why Bother) as my favorite song on Pinkerton. It starts out with a lullaby guitar jangle, and then turns into a humorous, yet still emotional story about a guy who falls in love with a girl. The problem is, that the girl is a lesbian, and she will never love him back. Eat your heart out Glee.

After “Pink Triangle,” the album kind of fizzles out. “Falling For You” is mostly memorable for the guitar riff before the verses, and the last chorus. Otherwise, it is in the same vein as “No Other One,” is also kind of boring. It’s kind of filler as far as I am concerned.

Now the album closes with “Butterfly,” a typical acoustic ballad with a few bass drum beats that accent the song. But I’ve heard better ones. It’s not bad, but it’s not mind blowing either. It’s pretty.

So I like Pinkerton, a lot. It’s worth getting, but it’s only worth buying the Deluxe Edition if you really like it. The rest of the material isn’t THAT good (although there’s the “Pink Triangle” remix and good acoustic versions of stuff). Now I have to get off. My mom is getting pissed.

Well it's enough to make you sick... (21st Century Breakdown)

Apparently it is. :( I'm sick, so I figured I might as well do something. So, I decided I should review 21st Century Breakdown. Often billed as a "Rock Opera", 21st Century Breakdown is seen as a departure for Green Day from the type of music they used to write. Or maybe that was American Idiot. Well, anyways, I have to say that 21st Century Breakdown is dramatically different from Green Day of the 90's and has triggered hoards of people leaving comments on Youtube that say something like "I miss the old Green Day, it was so much better" or "Real Green Day fans like all of their music." I have to disagree with both. Why? While the old Green Day was fantastic, the new Green Day is different. It's like trying to compare A7X and Florence + the Machine. You can't.  And "Real Green Day fans" don't have to like all of their music. The reason we were all Green Day "fans" in the first place is because we liked their music.  If a band makes a crappy album, then it's a crappy album. Saying that you should like all the music of a certain band is bogus - it's like buying things for the brand, regardless of price or functionality. You can't just like something because of the band that made it - the MUSIC is what is most important. So without farther interruption, I will start writing about 21st Century Breakdown. Thanks for bearing with me and this long rant/intro paragraph.

21st Century Breakdown kicks off with "Song of The Century" which seems to be kind of static-y and like it's on the radio or something. Then it jumps into 21st Century Breakdown, which warns us about the upcoming war, and loads of political crap like that mixed into it (Ok, fine, maybe that's the entire album). That aside, 21st Century Breakdown is a pretty good song. My favorite lyrics have to be "We are the class of, the class of 13" not because they are genius or anything, but because they refer to Billie Joe Armstrong's son, who happens to be around our age-ish. Not really, but I just thought it was rather brilliant. "Oh dream, America dream" also resonates with me because I think that that line is rather true. America has too many dreamers and not enough do-ers.
Then it goes in to "Know Your Enemy" which I think is a rather overplayed song and for me personally, has negative connotations because as I had mentioned in an earlier post, this particular song triggered as riot of pretenders going around with their "I'm so badass" face on. Keep in mind that these are the people who think that Justin Bieber is hot and Miley Cyrus is a good role model and listen to mainstream R&B with its degrading, meaningless lyrics 24/7. Nothing I hate more than people who are fake. So "Know Your Enemy" is a *meh*  reaction song.
Then comes "Viva La Gloria" and this song just blew me away. It goes from the super melodic and beautiful piano intro into a mellow section with Billie Joe Armstrong singing about a girl in an idealistic world and the coming of "the end" to it. GENIUS! Then BAM! into a punk rock anthem which I can't seem to get out of my head. <3 LOVE <3 LOVE<3 LOVE to the infinity. Arguably, this is the best song on the album and without a question, my favorite song on the album.
Then it goes into "Before the Lobotomy" with its guitar arpeggios at the beginning and Billie Joe Armstrong's AMAZING voice and an intro into yet another punk rock anthem which deals with forgetting and remembering the good old days which were so much better then the present. Note: this is the song where the title of this post comes from.
After "Before the Lobotomy" comes "Christian's Inferno". For some reason, the intro of "Christian's Inferno" reminds me of the beginning of the Nirvana song "Very Ape". IDK, maybe it's just the static-y part. Other than that, "Christian's Inferno" is rather repetitive with Billie Joe Armstrong singing "Whoa! Christian's inferno" over and over again and an angst filled part in the middle with that same static-y effect.
"Christian's Inferno" leads into the ballad "Last Night on Earth" which I find rather sentimental and contemplative, albeit rather romantic. Love, yeah, yeah, whatever.
"East Jesus Nowhere" follows it and has a rather cool intro - it sounds like someone switching from radio station to radio station and as usual, it is rather angst-y and critical upon society, especially the line "In the church of wishful thinking" (which always makes me laugh because it's so true) It also touches on the theme of oppression with the line "the cops of the new religion"and "a fire burns today of blasphemy and genocide" and warns us about the future.
"Peacemaker" also has a rather interesting beginning which for some reason has always reminded me of eating in an Italian restaurant. Weird, right? Maybe it's just the laughter and the music all spliced together. "Peacemaker" it a pretty good song over all. It also seems to me somewhat mariachi inspired because of riffs used.
"Last Of The American Girls" is a rather interesting song - it describes basically the end of the world with the imagery of a girl who epitomizes it. I really like this song though, because it's social commentary is genius with the lyrics.
"Murder City" has a intro that sounds like a hybrid of a bomb ticking about to go off and an alarm clock ringing. It's about the BART shooting on New Year's two years ago (the year 21st Century Breakdown came out) as revealed by Billie Joe Armstrong at the Green Day concert I went to during the 21st Century Breakdown tour. To me, this song is both overwhelmingly real and a spot on interpretation of the BART shooting. I've been to the very BART station where someone was shot so it's real to me - maybe even a little too real.

This has turned out to be a very long blog post so I think I'll stop. Lookout (Yes, no space on purpose, it is a Green Day reference) for 21st Century Breakdown review part 2 later.

Oh, and I'm open to request, so if you would like me to blog about something in particular please leave a comment. Really. I'm that bored. Also, if you do read this blog, please subscribe or leave a comment or something, because often, I feel like I'm talking to myself...

This Academic Factory

So Tommy wrote a post about music videos and I decided to go watch the video for "Heart Shaped Box". Look what I stumbled across in the comments section to "Heart Shaped Box" (Yes the VEVO one, and because I'm like obligated to, I will say *VEVO SUCKS*)

Well, this probably doesn't seem to funny unless you're Leonard or Tommy, so I'll explain. Leonard is new-ish to rock music and pop culture in general. As Leonard's name suggests, he is other worldly (like Spock), and does not know too much about the affairs of us earthlings.(jk, Leonard is human, not a dancer or alien) But anyways, because of this, Tommy and I will often be talking about some member of a band and Leonard will give us the "WTF?" and we'll have to explain. So, we often joke that Tommy (who is probably the most knowledgeable of us all about Rock) should be teaching a course called "AP Rock Music History" and that I am barely passing and Leonard is failing. Apparently, there really is a class Leonard really needs to take - at Ohio State University. Leonard, this should be what you are doing this summer.

Ps. If you didn't know the part where I say Leonard is human and not dancer is a reference to The Killer's song "Human". Also, the title of this post is a lyric from the Franz Ferdinand song "The Dark of the Matinee" Just pointing it out if you didn't know and was like WTF.

If you don't believe me, here's the link to "Heart Shaped Box". You can find this comment in the comment's section.
http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=n6P0SitRwy8

Uncolored Pictures of a Marigold

I’m not a big fan of music videos in general. There are a few that I really like though. Like “Heart-Shaped Box.” Although it has a somewhat feel of excess, there is lots of inspiration, symbolism, and a few clever touches (the raven beak-synching to the chorus, Kurt’s out of focus close-ups, the stagnant camera angle during the final verse). HSB

There’s also “American Idiot.” Most of Green Day’s videos (especially Wake Me Up When September Ends. Too much stupid dialogue) are typical of pop-rock videos: a little storyline with shots of the band performing. AI feels a bit more energized than the others. It’s pretty funny watching the band members play the song at different speeds and seeing Billie and Mike dance around (Everybody do the propaganda!). There’s also Tre running around the drums, watching the screen of a video camera, and Billie blowing his brains out during “It’s calling out to idiot America.” AI

A less known video is Weezer’s “The Good Life.” It does follow the pop-rock video formula, but they take several camera angles to make a single shot, and the storyline part is purposely boring, if it can even be called a storyline. The band performance is actually the best part, as the bass player and drummer barely even make an effort to play along with the song. They play maracas, dance, “fly” around, and switch instruments. Rivers’s guitar is colored like Kurt’s In Utero tour Mustang too, so that’s kinda cool. TGL

Of course, there’s always what I think is the most creative video of all time: “Bastards of Young.” The song is uptuned half a step from the record, so it seems poppier. Also, at the end of the video (I won’t spoil anything), the record continues playing with the next song on the album, Lay It Down Clown (also uptuned), so we can infer that the boy bought the album, not the single. And cleverly, your left speaker also silences at the same time as the one in the video. BOY Hey! That's a funny abbreviation.

The Network

I can't believe I haven't listened to this before! The Network is all of Green Day plus some others and it's New Wave! I have not listened to much yet, but so far, it seems just like what I usually listen to. It's kind of like Green Day meets Interpol, plus The Killers with some Muse thrown in and on drugs. Of course, because it's New Wave, it's really electronic-ized and distorted. Weird, because lately New Wave is starting to get to me..like the Klaxons (who are pretty good) IDK, The Network is even better though.

"Money 2020" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-omhOJwJWQ

"Roshambo"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WuTrCU34UU

Acoustic...

For some reason, lately I've been obsessed with the acoustic versions of songs..Weird right? Isn't the one that has been "fixed" supposed to sound better? IDK. But anyways, lately anything acoustic really gets to me. Maybe it's just because of the simplicity of it - you get the pure essence of the music. Either way, I' m really obsessed with two acoustic versions in particular:

"Blindness"- Metric  (I swear I've killed the replay button on this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rfjVUT6jfY

"New Perspective"- Panic!At the Disco (Specifically Brendon Urie, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE his voice)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJl-b2ij2yM

Who Would You Rather Be? The Beatles or The Rolling Stones

I think I have officially gone crazy. I have like 5 songs in my head playing all mixed together, so I thought I might share some of my insanity.

First the songs I have stuck in my head simultaneously:

"Gold Guns Girls" Metric
"Bridge Burning" Foo Fighters
"Welcome to the Family" Avenged Sevenfold
"Black Sheep" Metric
"Give Me Novocaine" Green Day
"Gimme Sympathy" Metric
"Games for Days" Julian Plenti
"Only If You Run" Julian Plenti

Oh, well that's 8 songs. Well I'm more mentally unstable than I previously thought. Now here's how this mess of Indie/Metal/Punk/Rock all goes togther if you're interested.

Starts with "Gold Guns Girls": Is it ever gonna be enough, is it ever gonna be enough..then goes to "Bridge Burning": Comes a king of second chances...goes back to "Gold Guns Girls: All the gold and the guns and the girls.." then to "Welcome to the Family" main chorus: welcome to the family...then to "Black Sheep": Hello again, friend of a friend..(Skips to the part)I'll send you my love on a wire... now to "Give me Novocaine" main chorus: Give me novocaine...then to "Gimme Sympathy": After it's all been done, who'd you rather be, the beatles or the rolling stones. Then it jumps to "Games for Days": But the way you played it was art...Then to "Only if you run": you will make it, but only if you run.

Sigh. I know I'm messed up.

Long journeys wear me out...

As you may know, my band posted another video. And I regret it. Why? There's another version that I think is better now. I was adamant that the version in the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zilVPHdCfXg) was the best take we recorded (we recorded like 10 takes, because we kept messing up). The last one we recorded has louder vocals, a new solo, and a verse without guitar. Why didn't we use that one? Because at the time I didn't want to. So here is that version. And you can download it, if you like this kind of stuff.

Another girl, another planet by Rehpogoy

Metric

 I first found out about Metric through Julian Plenti's music video for "Games for Days" where Metric's lead singer, Emily Haines if featured. I have to say, at first I found Emily's voice a little - I dare say- annoying, but it grew on me and after listening to a few more songs by Metric, I can't deny that it's pretty darn catchy. Fun facts: Metric is one of Twilight Soundtracks (I'm not sure what to think of this really...) and is also featured in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World where Envy, the main character's ex girlfriend, is based off of Emily Haines. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World also features "Black Sheep" by Metric. I have seen all the Twilight movies, and have seen Scott Pilgrim vs. The World so I find it a little funny I didn't discover them sooner. Metric is on the more pop side of the spectrum of indie and I'm still on the fence about whether or not I like it, but Metric is worth trying.
If interested, out of their singles, listen to:
"Gold Guns Girls"
"Stadium Love"
"Black Sheep"
Metric is generally pretty upbeat, so when I listened to "Dead Disco" it was a change, but I felt like it was trying too hard to be something it was not. It would be a good song, but I feel like it lacks something.

Nightmare (A7x)

So, clearly, if you have been following our posts, I am the only one without a cover of some kind... And I'm sorry to disappoint you but it'll stay that way for a while ^^. I bought the A7x Nightmare album yesterday, and it was pretty good. I listened to "Nightmare" and "Welcome to the Family" before I actually bought it and realized that it was worth buying.

As most of you A7x fans know, The Rev died... luckily, Mike Portnoy of Dream theater helped out by completing the recording of the drumming tracks. The thing that I find interesting about A7x is that they have an interesting but effective balance between hard rock and heavy metal. Not only that, but they can sound like many different bands in one album. For example, "So Far Away" is quite a bit softer than something like "Welcome to the Family". Overall, it's a great album, especially considering that one of their band members died.

Overplayed Green Day Songs That Were Great The First Time Around But Now I Feel Like Slapping Someone Everytime I Hear It

"Bouleverd of Broken Dreams"
"Wake Me Up When September Ends"
"Holiday"
"Know Your Enemy"
"21 Guns"

I swear, the summer that 21st Century Breakdown came out, people who listened to the very mainstream album American Idiot were all like "Green Day is so awesome!" even though the only songs by Green Day they ever heard were "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends". Although Green Day is awesome, I was kind of pissed everytime I saw someone who had their "I'm so badass" face on and was masquerading as a Green Day fan when the only songs that they had heard before were the singles. I mean, at least listen to one entire album. Sheesh.
But I guess also if you were alive in the 90's, theses Green Day songs are also pretty overplayed:

"When I Come Around"
"Longview"
"Brainstew"
"Basketcase"
"Good Riddance"

I'm sure there's more. If there is anything you would like to be added to this list, please leave a comment.

Another day come and gone, oh well...

I recorded a short cover today, all by myself. It's not that good and and there's a couple obvious mistakes during the bridge, but I tried recording it 4 times (even one with distortion), and after I reviewed them all, the first take had the most "spirit," for better lack of a word. Thank you. I'm a rock star. Bazinga. Your turn Leonard.

In Response to Tommy about American Idiot:

@ Tommy, and anyone else who read his post

I have to disagree about "Are We The Waiting", due to the fact that this song resonates so deeply with our generation. What are we waiting for? Our lives are an endless torrent of Youtube videos, Facebook statuses (?) and AIM messages. What meaning do we have? We essentially are a tool, a fragment, an insignificant piece of something so much bigger. Our generation will be remembered for Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Rebecca Black, and skinny jeans. Is that all we really want people to remember? Bad haircuts, bad music, and bogus trends? We are defined by what we do, and while we are waiting, we are nothing at all.

Sorry to go all philisophical and cynical, but I felt like I was obligated to.

Also, it's not a pity that she's a rebel didn't become a single - it also would have been overplayed, and therefore ruined. Speaking of overplayed, watch out for a list of overplayed songs coming soon...

American Idiot

Here I am. Contrary to popular belief, I did not overdose on heroin or die because of food poisoning at Sweet Tomatoes (great restaurant, you should have been there Amanda). I just got a fever in the morning. That's why I was missing from school. And now I feel kind of like crap again. Oh well. I was going to review Tim, by the Replacements, but I changed my mind. You have to be in the mood to do that sort of thing right. So I decided to do this instead.

American Idiot was released in 2004, and instantly made a splash with it's radio friendly singles and great promotion. American Idiot starts out with 2 of Green Day's greatest songs: the punchy title track and the 9 minute mini-opera "Jesus of Suburbia" (which is way better than the self-indulgent second one, "Homecoming"). Next is the much overrated, overplayed "Holiday" (no, not the Weezer one) that is saved by the guitar riff before the bass bridge. Then the overrated, overplayed "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," with the anchoring synthesizer and acoustic guitar during the verse. It's sort of an anthem for "people who walk alone," which is ironic, since everybody always sings along with it at parties (like in The Office). "Are We The Waiting" is the worst filler on the whole album. It drags on and on, but it does set you up nicely for the very fast "St, Jimmy." But AWTW is not even worth the (almost) 3 minutes it gets. "Novacaine" is actually a nice ballad, and again, sets you up to be blindsided by the catchy "She's A Rebel" (pity that "Rebel" wasn't a single). "Extraordinary Girl" has this weird Egyptian like vibe during the verses, but has my favorite chorus on the album. Although it doesn't jump right into the next track, it doesn't have to, since "Letterbomb" already has the perfect opening: a girl reading hate poetryish things, then a guitar strumming the note E furiously. It is also arguably has the best lyrics Billie Joe has ever written, and one of the coolest melodies. It seems like a really great closing track, but AI continues with "Wake Me Up When September Ends," an acoustic/electric ballad that is very beautiful. What? At least it's better than "Good Riddance." "Homecoming" is 9 minutes long. And almost half as good as "JOS." Filler alert. "Whatsername" is the hidden gem on the album. It has a different feeling than any other ballad I have heard. It's kind of resigned and slightly happy at the same time. I forget which part of the grieving process that is. "Hope" maybe. That is the word that describes the song.

American Idiot's production fits it's radio made songs, but it also takes away some of the rawness that made stuff like Dookie and Insomniac great. BIllie Joe's voice sounds like there are effects splashed all over during parts of the album. The title track sounds like Billie's voice has been compressed 10 times. It's not bad by any means, and it fits most of the songs, it just seems a little.... mainstream. Don't get me wrong, this is a great album. Just pick up Dookie first (or steal it). And listen to tracks 1,2,7,8,9,10, and 13. Thank you and good night. Drive home safely!

The Strokes - Angles

I have been hooked to The Strokes since I first heard "Soma" - dork that I am, I LOVED Brave New World, and the combination of great music and literary references sealed the deal. In March, The Strokes released a new album - Angles. It retains the same aesthetics as their previous albums - clipped guitar, catchy rhythms, and Julian Casablancas voice in the forefront of it all. The Strokes performed at Coachella awhile ago, and while I was not able to go, the live webcast was pretty good. They didn't perform too much of their new material, if I recall correctly, but it had a fair amount of their hits. They did however, perform "Under Cover of Darkness".(the music video for this is rather quirky, but cool and weird at the same time) Some how, they were even better on the live webcast than on the CD. IDK, maybe its just me, but I swear, Julian sounded amazing and the guitar riffs were even hotter. Funny how artists work though, because the new CD was influenced by the Arctic Monkeys, and the Artic Monkeys were influenced by The Strokes. Well, I guess it's all indie.

Burning Door

No, seriously. That's the title of our song. Oh yeah, I'm in a band called Elephant Pathogen (I know, awesome, huh) and we recorded our own song called "Burning Door." I repeat myself a lot. It already has, what, 54 views, and it's only been about 3 hours. The song's alright (read: not that good). It's 4 chords, and it repeats the same 4 chords throughout the entire song (with loud/soft dynamics). The title has something to do with love being like a burning door. Y'know... you can't get out of the room without going through the door, and if you touch the door, you'll get hurt. Yeah, I really don't understand it either. I didn't write the lyrics. Here's the link. Click here. I'm the loser that plays the guitar. And I overdubbed the bass in too (in one take), if you can listen closely. It took about 5 or 6 takes to get the thing you see in the video. You could barely hear the vocals in the video, so MJ overdubbed those too. And added EFFECTS. Then it took us half an hour to find out how to get the video from Garageband onto iMovie. Fail. I'm tried to get the guys to cover "Another Girl, Another Planet" by The Only Ones (one of my favorite songs) today also, but they said they didn't have enough time. Maybe I'll try vocals on that. Or not. Hey! Stop laughing! My singing is alright (read: not that good).

Apocalyptica

Both Maria and Tommy have made it unequivocal that my previous post was more suited to a social networking site than a blog, so i will do my best to keep this post a little bit more "blog appropriate"

Many of you that listen to exclusively classical music will think that metal music is taboo, but if you actually take the time to understand the music itself, it will become clear that there is quite a bit of structure to metal music. One might say that I wouldn't be able to comprehend the thoughts of a person who listen to classical music, but, as strange as it may seem, I listen to classical music quite frequently. (J.S. Bach is a genius, I greatly enjoy his violin and harpsichord concertos as well as many of his keyboard works, but let's not get into that for now and save that for another post.)

Before even starting metal music, Maria and Tommy introduced me to alternative rock which was how i was exposed to music other than classical. Humans certainly have very developed brains, but they cannot enjoy something without any repetition. Whether it's music or a painting, the human brain has to be able to find a pattern within the art before he/she can truly enjoy it. The first song that I ever took the time to listen to a couple times to find the pattern was "Come as you are" by Nirvana. As any human being, I was not used to this genre of music and had my eyebrows raised during the entire time the song was playing. Knowing that Maria and Tommy are not insane people, I decided to give it another go. I think I listened to it 4 times before I could understand it and enjoy it. Perhaps knowing that a classical music lover like myself can learn to enjoy alternative rock and metal might trigger trying new music ;)

So, allow me to start on the topic of Apocalyptica which, if you haven't noticed yet, is the title of this post. Apocalyptica in a nutshell is a band that plays metal music using classical instrumentation, specifically cellos. To the average person, this sounds incredible. Metal music with CELLOS?? I am here to prove that indeed, we now have cello players who started a metal band. Apocalyptica is not exactly the hardest metal you can get. The softness of the cello prevents the music from sounding as harsh as it could and the lack of permanent vocalists, bassists, and guitarists makes it difficult for the band to sound like the stereotypical metal band. If the idea of trying something new that is not too far away from your comfortable zone sounds appealing, try this piece of work by Apocalyptica.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsYcRSNL8To&feature=related

This particular one called "Path" is actually not the original "Path" by Apocalyptica. This one has only the cello part. The video shown here shows all the aspects of this band that makes it unique. The wild head bobbing and crazy fast bowing show the metal side of them while the cello instrumentation and softer sounding music show the classical side. You can also tell that the style is not classic and involves many syncopated rhythms which also shows why this band is not listed as classical.

Perhaps you read this and would like to try metal music, perhaps you just think I am insane person who should have just stuck with classical music, but either way, I hope you learned that metal music isn't just random guitar riffs and screaming men with long hair ^_^