I've played with Warbeast. They're a real fun group. I personally, though... think their album Destroy is not that great. Don't get me wrong...it's great musically...but that doesn't really matter at all when it sounds worse than And Justice For All.
On this album, you can hear the guitar, and the drums, and the vocals all become one giant wave a horrid sound that is described as, "Destroy". Is there a bass? Sure? The album says that they have a bassist. The real question is, do you believe them?
It just sounds soooo freaking bad. The main problem, is that it's just messy. It's one of those bands that I suppose is meant to be played really loudly through powerful speakers, kind of like Venom. However with Venom, I can distinguish parts more easily. Warbeast's Destroy is like a 5-year old's room after the kid had a temper tantrum and made a huge mess everywhere. Toys, blankets, fecal matter, just the works in terms of a horrible mess. Mess is the key word, here. That's not a positive word. That's a very very negative word.
IT'S MESSY.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
School of Rock Winter show
Today I played a gig at Umami Mia pizzeria. Say that 3 times fast.
I was playing with the B-team, and overall, it was really fun. The venue was outside, which was awesome because it was beautiful outside today. I sang Blue Christmas (the Elvis version) and I played bass and sang back-up vocals for Father Christmas by The Kinks. Both songs were really fun. The crowd was really responsive, and overall positive.
I'm not one who thrives on compliments, but I really really appreciate feedback. And it's also really nice when all the feedback just so happens to be compliments. A lot of the crowd told me that I was really good. Some of the older folk said I sounded just like Elvis. Which. You know. Great. He had a nice voice. I don't really think about my voice that often. I just sing. Whatevs. Maybe I'm overthinking it all. Perhaps they were just being nice. I DON'T KNOW.
I'm just glad I get these opportunities. It makes me happy. :)
I was playing with the B-team, and overall, it was really fun. The venue was outside, which was awesome because it was beautiful outside today. I sang Blue Christmas (the Elvis version) and I played bass and sang back-up vocals for Father Christmas by The Kinks. Both songs were really fun. The crowd was really responsive, and overall positive.
I'm not one who thrives on compliments, but I really really appreciate feedback. And it's also really nice when all the feedback just so happens to be compliments. A lot of the crowd told me that I was really good. Some of the older folk said I sounded just like Elvis. Which. You know. Great. He had a nice voice. I don't really think about my voice that often. I just sing. Whatevs. Maybe I'm overthinking it all. Perhaps they were just being nice. I DON'T KNOW.
I'm just glad I get these opportunities. It makes me happy. :)
Metallica (And Justice For All)
I've talked about Metallica before, but I was mainly talking about the Ride The Lightning album, or at least, the songs I was working on at the time.
And Justice for All is definitely one of my favorite Metallica albums. The album itself is borderline prog metal, which is f*cking awesome! I love prog, and I love metal, so this album makes me smile. All the while being this weird but cool prog style, it's also super heavy, and beautifully written.
HOWEVER.
There are a few problems that make this album NOT my favorite. As in, these problems make me super sad.
PROBLEM NUMBER 1: The mixing is awful. The overall sound quality of this album freaking sucks. The main problem being that the bass is super low. So low to the point of it being practically inaudible. I'm a bass player, so this upsets me on a personal level of wanting to learn some of the songs. This isn't just a problem with me, either. Pretty much all Metallica fans agree that it should be fixed. Actually, someone made a remix of the album entitled: And Justice for Jason that fixes the bass sound. All I can say is, I want that copy.
PROBLEM NUMBER 2: This is just my opinion, but I have kind of an issue with the ordering of the last couple songs. To Live Is To Die is the 8th song on this album of 9. It's the instrumental song on the album, and it's dedicated to the late Cliff Burton. This is the most epic song on the album, by far. It's one of the most epic Metallica songs ever written. So here's a rhetorical question, why is Dyers Eve; the fastest, heaviest, most retardedly mood-breaking song that Metallica ever, EVER wrote, right after it?
Don't get me wrong, Dyers Eve is a great song. But I think putting it as the last song on the album, especially right after To Live is to Die, is just stupid. To Live is to Die should've been the last song. That's basically what I've been trying to say.
PROBLEM NUMBER 3: This is only really toward Dyers Eve, which I find kind of strange looking at the rest of this metal album... but the sound of the double kick peddle drives me up the wall. I freaking hate the sound of nu-metal/modern metal, and a good part of that reason is that the kick peddle sounds like a f*cking click track. It's unacceptable. You have this heavy metal band, right? I want my heavy metal to be backed with heavy, manly men drums. Not stupid, clicky, chicken sh*t. It upsets me. It doesn't fit the sound at all, and it's annoying on top of that. You don't even need the band to be upset by it. If you just listen to the drum track, you wouldn't be going like, "Yeah!" you'd go like, "Why?"
That's kind of my big question towards this album. "Why?" This could've been the best if you just didn't dick around.
Complaints aside, this is actually a great album. Go buy it. Or steal it.
And Justice for All is definitely one of my favorite Metallica albums. The album itself is borderline prog metal, which is f*cking awesome! I love prog, and I love metal, so this album makes me smile. All the while being this weird but cool prog style, it's also super heavy, and beautifully written.
HOWEVER.
There are a few problems that make this album NOT my favorite. As in, these problems make me super sad.
PROBLEM NUMBER 1: The mixing is awful. The overall sound quality of this album freaking sucks. The main problem being that the bass is super low. So low to the point of it being practically inaudible. I'm a bass player, so this upsets me on a personal level of wanting to learn some of the songs. This isn't just a problem with me, either. Pretty much all Metallica fans agree that it should be fixed. Actually, someone made a remix of the album entitled: And Justice for Jason that fixes the bass sound. All I can say is, I want that copy.
PROBLEM NUMBER 2: This is just my opinion, but I have kind of an issue with the ordering of the last couple songs. To Live Is To Die is the 8th song on this album of 9. It's the instrumental song on the album, and it's dedicated to the late Cliff Burton. This is the most epic song on the album, by far. It's one of the most epic Metallica songs ever written. So here's a rhetorical question, why is Dyers Eve; the fastest, heaviest, most retardedly mood-breaking song that Metallica ever, EVER wrote, right after it?
Don't get me wrong, Dyers Eve is a great song. But I think putting it as the last song on the album, especially right after To Live is to Die, is just stupid. To Live is to Die should've been the last song. That's basically what I've been trying to say.
PROBLEM NUMBER 3: This is only really toward Dyers Eve, which I find kind of strange looking at the rest of this metal album... but the sound of the double kick peddle drives me up the wall. I freaking hate the sound of nu-metal/modern metal, and a good part of that reason is that the kick peddle sounds like a f*cking click track. It's unacceptable. You have this heavy metal band, right? I want my heavy metal to be backed with heavy, manly men drums. Not stupid, clicky, chicken sh*t. It upsets me. It doesn't fit the sound at all, and it's annoying on top of that. You don't even need the band to be upset by it. If you just listen to the drum track, you wouldn't be going like, "Yeah!" you'd go like, "Why?"
That's kind of my big question towards this album. "Why?" This could've been the best if you just didn't dick around.
Complaints aside, this is actually a great album. Go buy it. Or steal it.
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash is the greatest thing ever. No seriously, he's the greatest. He's the man. He's the freaking dude. He's freaking awesome. Why is he so awesome? I don't really know, he just is.
"Conner, I always pictured you as a big metalhead? How can you think Johnny Cash is the best?"
How can you not think that, obnoxious person? He's freaking Johnny Cash. You must love him.
You gotta understand, when I was a little boy...like, before I got into metal, I listened to Johnny Cash, Pink Floyd, and that was kind of it. When I was really young, I would listen to his stuff all the time, and I'd sing along to it. By myself.
Johnny Cash is the reason I sing at all. As a matter of fact, the very first song I sang in the history of ever in front of anyone was Man In Black. I sang it on cruise ship during my vacation some years back with my dad playing guitar, and some staff member on keyboard. We performed in a little funzies talent show that didn't really mean anything, but I decided to get the courage to sing in front of my family, and these other people I didn't know. It was a lot of fun, I thought. I didn't think about how well I performed it, I just did it for fun because I was singing Johnny Cash. Hell yeah!
If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be involved in music at all, probably. He's the reason I'm here, and he's the man.
"Conner, I always pictured you as a big metalhead? How can you think Johnny Cash is the best?"
How can you not think that, obnoxious person? He's freaking Johnny Cash. You must love him.
You gotta understand, when I was a little boy...like, before I got into metal, I listened to Johnny Cash, Pink Floyd, and that was kind of it. When I was really young, I would listen to his stuff all the time, and I'd sing along to it. By myself.
Johnny Cash is the reason I sing at all. As a matter of fact, the very first song I sang in the history of ever in front of anyone was Man In Black. I sang it on cruise ship during my vacation some years back with my dad playing guitar, and some staff member on keyboard. We performed in a little funzies talent show that didn't really mean anything, but I decided to get the courage to sing in front of my family, and these other people I didn't know. It was a lot of fun, I thought. I didn't think about how well I performed it, I just did it for fun because I was singing Johnny Cash. Hell yeah!
If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be involved in music at all, probably. He's the reason I'm here, and he's the man.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Led Zeppelin Zep 1
I know I just made a post about Led Zeppelin, but this post is about their first album. Is that cheating? Sure? It's just that good, so I'm doing it anyway.
We listened to Zep 1 in class, and I freaking love this album. It's got such a powerful tone. Such a beefy sound. Like, in comparison to other stuff being played at the time of the release of this album, it sounds extreme, and nowadays, it still sounds awesome. It holds up to me as being one of the best made albums in rock ever, and it was only made in 36 hours according to Mr. A. This info blows my mind.
We listened to Zep 1 in class, and I freaking love this album. It's got such a powerful tone. Such a beefy sound. Like, in comparison to other stuff being played at the time of the release of this album, it sounds extreme, and nowadays, it still sounds awesome. It holds up to me as being one of the best made albums in rock ever, and it was only made in 36 hours according to Mr. A. This info blows my mind.
Led Zeppelin
I freaking love Led Zeppelin. This is the band. Like, THE band. They're the band that're the best at what they do. Best drummer, best guitarist, best bassist, and best singer in all of rock. How do you beat that? You don't. Not for this genre. The only thing that isn't super powerful about Zeppelin is the lyrics... a lot of them aren't anything special. They range from "behbe i love you" to nerdy stuff. And by nerdy stuff, I mean Lord of the Rings. I don't like Lord of the Rings, so I don't really care for these lyrics. But the music behind them, is amazing. I've never really never met anyone that doesn't like them. I think it's kind of a social moral to like them, almost.
When I'm older, I wanna start a band that has a plane that has a fireplace. That's the way to live.
When I'm older, I wanna start a band that has a plane that has a fireplace. That's the way to live.
School of Rock Tex fest
A few weeks ago I had a show with the SoR, or rather, a lot of SoR B teams. What I mean is, a lot of SoR B-teams came down to Austin to play this big show with our B-team, all the while the Austin school was doing our preview show for our shows this weekend.
I saw almost every team play, and from what I saw, I think everyone did a really good job. I think that our B-team is better than most of them, but still.
As for the preview shows, I played in the Metallica set. The setlist in order was, Hit The Lights, Ride The Lightning, The Unforgiven, Am I Evil?, and Master Of Puppets. Hit The Lights, I sang, and it was really fun. It did the job for opening up the set and getting the crowd more excited. Ride the Lightning was pretty weak. The drummer on that song sucks. The Unforgiven was also a little weak, the singer wasn't anything special, and the lead guitarists' solo was pretty lame. Am I Evil was freaking fun, and I loved playing it. Our singer said *ahem* The "F" word during the song's last chorus, though. That's innapropro for the kiddies, but whatevs, I guess. And finally, Master of Puppets... It was the best song. I went out of my way to make the crowd go nuts, and they responded just as I'd have hoped they would.
Saying all that, I can't wait for the full Metallica show which is in January.
I saw almost every team play, and from what I saw, I think everyone did a really good job. I think that our B-team is better than most of them, but still.
As for the preview shows, I played in the Metallica set. The setlist in order was, Hit The Lights, Ride The Lightning, The Unforgiven, Am I Evil?, and Master Of Puppets. Hit The Lights, I sang, and it was really fun. It did the job for opening up the set and getting the crowd more excited. Ride the Lightning was pretty weak. The drummer on that song sucks. The Unforgiven was also a little weak, the singer wasn't anything special, and the lead guitarists' solo was pretty lame. Am I Evil was freaking fun, and I loved playing it. Our singer said *ahem* The "F" word during the song's last chorus, though. That's innapropro for the kiddies, but whatevs, I guess. And finally, Master of Puppets... It was the best song. I went out of my way to make the crowd go nuts, and they responded just as I'd have hoped they would.
Saying all that, I can't wait for the full Metallica show which is in January.
Personal reasons for absence.
This blog doesn't really apply to music, or what I've been listening to. It's more of a blog to explain why I've been behind on putting these blogs up in a good, timely manner.
Probably a few days after my Newsted blog, my Grandfather was put into the hospital because he had a stroke, which then led to him slipping into a comatose state, and eventually he passed away. This event pretty much destroyed my mother, which in turn destroyed my stepdad, which then in turn led me and my sister to be pretty much ignored, and quite frankly mistreated.
I would say that my relationship with my mom has been kind of dwindling down for a long while, now. And, that makes me sad, because I think everyone should do well with their moms. I know I'm a teenager, but I don't think it's right of me to believe that my mom is an idiot, but sometimes... a lot of times, I really believe that. And I know that her father died, and she's going through a lot right now, but I just wish that she would also take in consideration to how I feel about things.
After a while, I've just kind of accepted that things probably wouldn't change, or at least not anytime soon. I'll just be trying to get back into the habit of schoolwork and pray for ways to get out of this house every once and a while more.
Probably a few days after my Newsted blog, my Grandfather was put into the hospital because he had a stroke, which then led to him slipping into a comatose state, and eventually he passed away. This event pretty much destroyed my mother, which in turn destroyed my stepdad, which then in turn led me and my sister to be pretty much ignored, and quite frankly mistreated.
I would say that my relationship with my mom has been kind of dwindling down for a long while, now. And, that makes me sad, because I think everyone should do well with their moms. I know I'm a teenager, but I don't think it's right of me to believe that my mom is an idiot, but sometimes... a lot of times, I really believe that. And I know that her father died, and she's going through a lot right now, but I just wish that she would also take in consideration to how I feel about things.
After a while, I've just kind of accepted that things probably wouldn't change, or at least not anytime soon. I'll just be trying to get back into the habit of schoolwork and pray for ways to get out of this house every once and a while more.
King Crimson
King Crimson is freaking amazing! Their album, Discipline, is one of my most favorite albums of all time, actually. And they're probably one of my favorite bands that isn't a metal band. But what is King Crimson? Most people would put them under the genre of Prog, or Progressive Rock, even though members of the band refuse to associate themselves with that genre. But, this is one of those cases where you just gotta say "screw you" to the band, and just accept that they're prog, and they're weird.
The reason they're prog is because they contain every aspect a prog band has...that being they're progressive. They play a lot of parts per song, and all of their songs are relatively pretty damn long. In my opinion, if you have long songs, but you can also make them interesting, then I will like you. You gotta have both many different parts and if you repeat any segments, they better be catchy or something. King Crimson excels in doing this.
The reason they're prog is because they contain every aspect a prog band has...that being they're progressive. They play a lot of parts per song, and all of their songs are relatively pretty damn long. In my opinion, if you have long songs, but you can also make them interesting, then I will like you. You gotta have both many different parts and if you repeat any segments, they better be catchy or something. King Crimson excels in doing this.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Pet Sounds
I was not in class when we listened to the Beach Boys. This made me sad.
HOWEVER. I went out of my way to listen to this after my time of absence. And what can I say, other then this album is freaking great.
As a kid, I never really listened to The Beach Boys. I listened to more of Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, and The Who, to name a few. But, listening to them now, they kinda sound like a more poppy Beatles. Saying that, I lean more towards The Beatles for being more rock. As much as it may hurt some, the inner metalhead in me must be pleased. I really do like The Beach Boys, though. I think it's hilarious how members (not sure how many) died by drowning. Mentioning this to Mr. A., he commented, "Yeah. They didn't surf."
No they did not.
HOWEVER. I went out of my way to listen to this after my time of absence. And what can I say, other then this album is freaking great.
As a kid, I never really listened to The Beach Boys. I listened to more of Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, and The Who, to name a few. But, listening to them now, they kinda sound like a more poppy Beatles. Saying that, I lean more towards The Beatles for being more rock. As much as it may hurt some, the inner metalhead in me must be pleased. I really do like The Beach Boys, though. I think it's hilarious how members (not sure how many) died by drowning. Mentioning this to Mr. A., he commented, "Yeah. They didn't surf."
No they did not.
Newsted
Newsted is Jason Newsted's metal band. It's great. Jason is one of the coolest dudes ever, and he's probably the coolest dude in the metal music industry. As in, he's not a self absorbed jerk.
Jason himself is the bassist and vocalist for this group, both of which are fantastically written and performed. Not to say the drums and guitar aren't good, because they are, it's just that the highlight of the band is Jason...in my opinion.
He released a 4 song EP for the band simply titled, "Metal", which I went nuts for went it came out.
And somewhat recently he released a full album called Heavy Metal Music. Great name. Great name considering that's what you get. True heavy metal at it's core.
I don't mean to come off as one who worships JN, but I do honestly think everything he does is just freaking great. Saying that, I'll just spoil upcoming posts on this blog. Echobrain and Flotsam and Jetsam.
Here's a music video for a song I went out of my way to learn when it first came out. Soldierhead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kRWwxCPyjw
Jason himself is the bassist and vocalist for this group, both of which are fantastically written and performed. Not to say the drums and guitar aren't good, because they are, it's just that the highlight of the band is Jason...in my opinion.
He released a 4 song EP for the band simply titled, "Metal", which I went nuts for went it came out.
And somewhat recently he released a full album called Heavy Metal Music. Great name. Great name considering that's what you get. True heavy metal at it's core.
I don't mean to come off as one who worships JN, but I do honestly think everything he does is just freaking great. Saying that, I'll just spoil upcoming posts on this blog. Echobrain and Flotsam and Jetsam.
Here's a music video for a song I went out of my way to learn when it first came out. Soldierhead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kRWwxCPyjw
Friday, November 8, 2013
Judas Priest
Metal Gods? Indeed. Judas Priest is an awesome freaking band. From the screeching guitars to...the screeching vocals.
Ah, Robert Halford... I have a feeling that as I'm writing this blog, that it will be more about him as opposed to the rest of the band. So I will talk about him for a moment. Halford is a bit interesting because I love him...but I also just don't really like him. You know? I dunno, so you probably don't.
See, he sounds great on records...and live, at least back in the day, he sounds great. But nowadays live, he's kind of lost it, I think. It saddens me to admit that though considering that he's been a pretty big influence on my own personal vocal stuff. I hope I don't lose my edge.... that would make me sad.
But anyway... I love Judas Priest. My favorite albums from them are Screaming For Vengeance, Hell Bent For Leather, and Painkiller. I don't put British Steel because it's a bit too poppy for me. I like my metal metal. You know? I really like Painkiller because it was released in the early 90s, around the time when Grunge was starting to become a thing. Most people either listened to Metal, or Grunge, and obviously one side wanted more followers than the other. Three albums during that time period stuck out in the metal scene as a response to the rise of grunge to try to keep metal alive, and those albums were, Rust In Peace from Megadeth, Vulgar Display of Power from Pantera, and Painkiller from Judas Priest. Metal masterpieces all, yet at the same time being pure musical genius.
But while sounding freaking awesome on the record, every live recording of every song off Painkiller has sounded significantly lamer. Whatever the reasons may be... who cares? It sounds lamer, and it shouldn't.
Ah, Robert Halford... I have a feeling that as I'm writing this blog, that it will be more about him as opposed to the rest of the band. So I will talk about him for a moment. Halford is a bit interesting because I love him...but I also just don't really like him. You know? I dunno, so you probably don't.
See, he sounds great on records...and live, at least back in the day, he sounds great. But nowadays live, he's kind of lost it, I think. It saddens me to admit that though considering that he's been a pretty big influence on my own personal vocal stuff. I hope I don't lose my edge.... that would make me sad.
But anyway... I love Judas Priest. My favorite albums from them are Screaming For Vengeance, Hell Bent For Leather, and Painkiller. I don't put British Steel because it's a bit too poppy for me. I like my metal metal. You know? I really like Painkiller because it was released in the early 90s, around the time when Grunge was starting to become a thing. Most people either listened to Metal, or Grunge, and obviously one side wanted more followers than the other. Three albums during that time period stuck out in the metal scene as a response to the rise of grunge to try to keep metal alive, and those albums were, Rust In Peace from Megadeth, Vulgar Display of Power from Pantera, and Painkiller from Judas Priest. Metal masterpieces all, yet at the same time being pure musical genius.
But while sounding freaking awesome on the record, every live recording of every song off Painkiller has sounded significantly lamer. Whatever the reasons may be... who cares? It sounds lamer, and it shouldn't.
Help (Beatles Movie)
Our class had the "misfortune" of watching this movie twice. I put misfortune in quotes because the kids that don't like this movie must be depressed or something. This movie is fantastic. It had a great soundtrack (predictably), great humor (humour? lolbritish), and kind of an interesting plot. I'm sure I'm not (or at least, I hope I'm not) the only one that got a bit of a laugh at the idea of a ring being stuck on Ringo's ring finger.
Ringo ring ring ring Ringo ring ring ring rinringksrdhglkdsnbjdsfnhbhdsknhsd;nglkbjm skgh
It's a good movie, but the quiz sucked. I'm sure if I watched the movie a couple more times, then I'd ace it. But... that's kind of the point, in a way. No, I don't know which Beatle was throwing flowers at the camera. I was a little busy laughing at the idea that they were doing an intermission to being with, considering that laughter was the intended purpose of the joke, or any joke, I don't think they'd mind. BUTWHATAMIMADABOUT? That's in the past. Let's look to the future.
Please don't give quizes. They make me sadface.
Ringo ring ring ring Ringo ring ring ring rinringksrdhglkdsnbjdsfnhbhdsknhsd;nglkbjm skgh
It's a good movie, but the quiz sucked. I'm sure if I watched the movie a couple more times, then I'd ace it. But... that's kind of the point, in a way. No, I don't know which Beatle was throwing flowers at the camera. I was a little busy laughing at the idea that they were doing an intermission to being with, considering that laughter was the intended purpose of the joke, or any joke, I don't think they'd mind. BUTWHATAMIMADABOUT? That's in the past. Let's look to the future.
Please don't give quizes. They make me sadface.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Doom? Doom. Eh.
I wasn't in class for the watching of Help, so I'm just going back to an earlier topic that's sort of brought up everyday.
Are we doomed?
Yeah. Probably.
Let's look at this positively... We should probably accept that change in general is a natural part of life, and whether it's good or not is hard to say. Sure, it could be bad for those that feel that how society is changing is different or wrong... but you could also consider that maybe it's the right way of being for the ones living in today's generation. While modern mainstream may "suck", it's awesome to a lot of people, and that's why it exists. Does the one's music taste correlate with their intelligence? Ideally, no, but what makes an idiot? Sometimes I think, maybe I'm the stupid one because society has evolved to a new point in norm that's considered to be appealing. What some may consider clever and witty, might be dumb to them, and vice versa.
So what makes someone dumb? Now that I think about it, really it's just ignorance. And arrogance. What makes someone act that way? I dunno. People would probably act that way when they're afraid, or just don't care enough, but don't tell you directly that they don't care. Rude, yeah, but it's honest.
Are we doomed, though? Maybe. From what I understand, the only real reason bad things happen in life is because usually one dude with a handful of bad ideas gets too much power to do stuff to people's lives.
I'm gonna take the high road, here. I just wanna write and play music, and eat pizza.
Are we doomed?
Yeah. Probably.
Let's look at this positively... We should probably accept that change in general is a natural part of life, and whether it's good or not is hard to say. Sure, it could be bad for those that feel that how society is changing is different or wrong... but you could also consider that maybe it's the right way of being for the ones living in today's generation. While modern mainstream may "suck", it's awesome to a lot of people, and that's why it exists. Does the one's music taste correlate with their intelligence? Ideally, no, but what makes an idiot? Sometimes I think, maybe I'm the stupid one because society has evolved to a new point in norm that's considered to be appealing. What some may consider clever and witty, might be dumb to them, and vice versa.
So what makes someone dumb? Now that I think about it, really it's just ignorance. And arrogance. What makes someone act that way? I dunno. People would probably act that way when they're afraid, or just don't care enough, but don't tell you directly that they don't care. Rude, yeah, but it's honest.
Are we doomed, though? Maybe. From what I understand, the only real reason bad things happen in life is because usually one dude with a handful of bad ideas gets too much power to do stuff to people's lives.
I'm gonna take the high road, here. I just wanna write and play music, and eat pizza.
Nuclear Assault
Nuclear Assault. Funny, about half of this band made up S.O.D., while the other half of S.O.D. was about half the guys from Anthrax. The only reason that S.O.D. isn't really a thing anymore, is because it got bigger than those two bands, or at least, it got bigger then the members wanted it to be. Like, S.O.D. was more like a side project, but it was side project that got a lot more attention than expected, and apparently wanted. Kinda like how the writer for The Jungle wrote, The Jungle, because he wanted to inform people about how bad worker's rights were during the time of the Gilded Age for America, when instead people got more interested in the fact that the food they were eating made by these workers was in just as bad of condition. The writer said, "I aimed for people's hearts, but hit their stomachs." I love this quote. It makes me smile.
HISTORY.
So before ADD conquers my life any further, let's discuss my opinion on this band. I love this band. If I had to describe this band in terms of how they sound... it's kind of like if you mixed together Megadeth and Anthrax. You got real creative yet heavy riffs and song structures, but you also got the New York styled metal. It's great. It's like putting pepperoni on pizza. Both things are great, so they must go good together. But hey, no sh*t. It's kinda obvious maybe. To some people. Smart people. "Smart" people.
Nuclear Assault has a good number of albums, but the ones that stick out to me are (I believe) the first 3. Game Over, Survive, and Handle With Care. The first album I heard was Survive, and I listened to it because I want on a marathon of listening a buttload of different metal bands that I could find on the interwebs. I saw "Survive, Nuclear Assault, full album" and I was like, "Yeah, sure."
The first song was Rise From The Ashes, and my face melted. I've never been so happy to have said "Yeah, sure." to myself.
I'd put a link to that song from youtube, but my computer is currently being the worst thing ever, and I refuse to wait 20 minutes for it to load Youtube, maybe. I'd rather have a computer that "works", than a computer that's been smashed and thrown out the window. Parents get mad at that stuff.
HISTORY.
So before ADD conquers my life any further, let's discuss my opinion on this band. I love this band. If I had to describe this band in terms of how they sound... it's kind of like if you mixed together Megadeth and Anthrax. You got real creative yet heavy riffs and song structures, but you also got the New York styled metal. It's great. It's like putting pepperoni on pizza. Both things are great, so they must go good together. But hey, no sh*t. It's kinda obvious maybe. To some people. Smart people. "Smart" people.
Nuclear Assault has a good number of albums, but the ones that stick out to me are (I believe) the first 3. Game Over, Survive, and Handle With Care. The first album I heard was Survive, and I listened to it because I want on a marathon of listening a buttload of different metal bands that I could find on the interwebs. I saw "Survive, Nuclear Assault, full album" and I was like, "Yeah, sure."
The first song was Rise From The Ashes, and my face melted. I've never been so happy to have said "Yeah, sure." to myself.
I'd put a link to that song from youtube, but my computer is currently being the worst thing ever, and I refuse to wait 20 minutes for it to load Youtube, maybe. I'd rather have a computer that "works", than a computer that's been smashed and thrown out the window. Parents get mad at that stuff.
Friday, October 25, 2013
The Who
Who?
^---- We're not doing this joke.
The Who is probably one of my favorite classic rock bands of all time, and I say probably because I don't wanna think of all of my favorites and actually rate them, because I just don't wanna do that. I like to type whatever comes to mind, and thinking about that would make me reconsider other things I might've said already, and that's dumb. I like to keep things moving. ANYWAY. The Who has won my heart with songs like My Generation, and Pinball Wizard. Why? Because they're freaking awesome. All of their songs are extremely well written, well produced, and overall just enjoyable to listen to. I try not to pick favorites in bands, but their bass player John (I'm not even going to try to spell his last name) is insane. He is so freaking amazing with everything he does, and I wish that I could steal his talent. He can play circles around anyone. He's the best. He's the man. The thing.
This is a little embarrassing, but idgaf. (That's text-speak for, "I don't give a darn") The song, Behind Blue Eyes made me wish I had blue eyes when I was younger. Just because I thought that song was awesome. Because it is. Go listen to it.
^---- We're not doing this joke.
The Who is probably one of my favorite classic rock bands of all time, and I say probably because I don't wanna think of all of my favorites and actually rate them, because I just don't wanna do that. I like to type whatever comes to mind, and thinking about that would make me reconsider other things I might've said already, and that's dumb. I like to keep things moving. ANYWAY. The Who has won my heart with songs like My Generation, and Pinball Wizard. Why? Because they're freaking awesome. All of their songs are extremely well written, well produced, and overall just enjoyable to listen to. I try not to pick favorites in bands, but their bass player John (I'm not even going to try to spell his last name) is insane. He is so freaking amazing with everything he does, and I wish that I could steal his talent. He can play circles around anyone. He's the best. He's the man. The thing.
This is a little embarrassing, but idgaf. (That's text-speak for, "I don't give a darn") The song, Behind Blue Eyes made me wish I had blue eyes when I was younger. Just because I thought that song was awesome. Because it is. Go listen to it.
My show tonight
Tonight I played with Dead Earth Politics and Warbeast for the Housecore Horror festival, and it was probably the most fun show I've played in a long freaking time. It was definitely one of the better metal shows I've done.
I did not meet Phil Anselmo, but I met the rest of Down, and they were very nice. The nicest out of all the bands however was Dead Earth Politics. They treated us with so much love and respect, it was like being in the band for real. On top of that, that songs were freaking amazing. I'll post links when videos are up.
We did really well with Warbeast, too. It wasn't nearly as tight, though. SOMETHING happened near the end of the song, I don't know what though. Most talk has been blaming the drummer, but I dunno. I was playing my part just fine. Hooray for being freaking prepared, right? Where's my paycheck? Oh yeah. School of Rock kids don't get money. Sadface. I should get a real job. One day.
Everybody loved us, though. And that is really all that matters, I think. If the people on stage have a good time, the crowd should too, and vice versa.
As I said, here's a video of me playing with Dead Earth Politics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT9zmDfqRWU
I did not meet Phil Anselmo, but I met the rest of Down, and they were very nice. The nicest out of all the bands however was Dead Earth Politics. They treated us with so much love and respect, it was like being in the band for real. On top of that, that songs were freaking amazing. I'll post links when videos are up.
We did really well with Warbeast, too. It wasn't nearly as tight, though. SOMETHING happened near the end of the song, I don't know what though. Most talk has been blaming the drummer, but I dunno. I was playing my part just fine. Hooray for being freaking prepared, right? Where's my paycheck? Oh yeah. School of Rock kids don't get money. Sadface. I should get a real job. One day.
Everybody loved us, though. And that is really all that matters, I think. If the people on stage have a good time, the crowd should too, and vice versa.
As I said, here's a video of me playing with Dead Earth Politics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT9zmDfqRWU
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
Rock to me is the greatest thing ever, but what is it? I was to be broad about it, I'd say music. But what makes rock music? To me, it's attitude. As Mr. A. put it, "Rock is the sound of rebellion.", and by his definition, The Beatles is rock, yet so is a group like Blackalicious. Rock is to make something outside of the mainstream, or pop, regardless of the specific genre such artist is to be put under. Not to say that all rock or even metal bands aren't in the mainstream, but...hmm... this is difficult to phrase.
Like, pop music something that you can just listen to without much thought or musical passion, whereas rock is the opposite. The only way that a rock band would get into the mainstream is if places like Hot Topic sells their shirt or something, but no one (generally) really listens to them. Like Iron Maiden for example. Do you have any idea how many kids I see wearing Iron Maiden shirts and they don't have a single idea what any of their songs are or what they sound like? Too many. Too many, and it needs to stop. Now, preferably. Same thing kinda goes with The Misfits, but they kinda trailed off to "Horror punk" (or as I call it, "F*ck you, we're selling out and not admitting it" punk...you know, that doesn't even satisfy me. I just called it New Misfits. Less exciting, but it gets the job done) so I don't really count them quite as much.
POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE.... rock is something that isn't a waste of your time. Listen to it, please.
Sorry this blog is a bit late, couldn't fit it in my schedule, and my internet has been making me sadface with it sucking. </3
Like, pop music something that you can just listen to without much thought or musical passion, whereas rock is the opposite. The only way that a rock band would get into the mainstream is if places like Hot Topic sells their shirt or something, but no one (generally) really listens to them. Like Iron Maiden for example. Do you have any idea how many kids I see wearing Iron Maiden shirts and they don't have a single idea what any of their songs are or what they sound like? Too many. Too many, and it needs to stop. Now, preferably. Same thing kinda goes with The Misfits, but they kinda trailed off to "Horror punk" (or as I call it, "F*ck you, we're selling out and not admitting it" punk...you know, that doesn't even satisfy me. I just called it New Misfits. Less exciting, but it gets the job done) so I don't really count them quite as much.
POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE.... rock is something that isn't a waste of your time. Listen to it, please.
Sorry this blog is a bit late, couldn't fit it in my schedule, and my internet has been making me sadface with it sucking. </3
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Dead Earth Politics
Turns out I'm going to be playing a show with Phil Anselmo and others next week (thank you school of rock for providing me with fuhmazing opportunities) Saying that, I'll totally blog about how that goes
Anywho, one of the songs in the setlist is called Dos Cuerpos by a band named Dead Earth Politics. While this band is probably a bit more hardcore in terms of their sound and how their vocals go, the overall music is freaking fun as hell to play, and the bassline is sick. Their other songs that I've heard pretty much give the same appeal. Awesome and overall fun metal group. Like I said, I'm not big on all the screaming, but if you can get past that, it's a great group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7xM63kX_rg&noredirect=1 here's the song I have to play. :33
Anywho, one of the songs in the setlist is called Dos Cuerpos by a band named Dead Earth Politics. While this band is probably a bit more hardcore in terms of their sound and how their vocals go, the overall music is freaking fun as hell to play, and the bassline is sick. Their other songs that I've heard pretty much give the same appeal. Awesome and overall fun metal group. Like I said, I'm not big on all the screaming, but if you can get past that, it's a great group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7xM63kX_rg&noredirect=1 here's the song I have to play. :33
Friday, October 11, 2013
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath is arguably one of the greatest metal bands of all time, all while arguably not even being a metal band. Funny how things work out that way.
When people think of Black Sabbath (and hopefully know who they are) Ozzy Osbourne would probably come to mind, which is fair. He did have a lot to do with the band in general, and he gave the band it's first name, The Polka Tulk Blues Band. Apparently he came up with it when he found a cheap brand of talcum powder he saw in his mother's bathroom. They then shortened the name to just Polka Tulk, and then eventually changed the name to Earth. Fun Fact: Ozzy HATED that name.
They stuck with that name for a while, thinking they were going to be more of a blues rock band until they saw a movie called Black Sabbath. They wrote a song with the same name, obviously inspired by the movie which is arguably the heaviest song ever written based entirely on the pure evil vibe it gives off. After that, they changed their name to Black Sabbath and started writing more songs of the same nature. Evil, heavy, and freaking awesome.
The Ozzy years are characterized as "heavier, and more political." Heavier, sure? Political, very yes. War and politics were topics that were always used during the Ozzy years. With songs like, War Pigs, they often criticized the governments of the world as, well, war mongering pigs. I'm not one for politics, but these songs are freaking amazing. The lyrics are meaningful, while at the same time feeling like a total diss to whoever Sabbath wanted to go against. The music itself, as in instrumentation and melodies, brilliant. In the world of hard rock/metal, I would almost say that Black Sabbath was The Beatles of that genre. They truly dominated; nothing could touch them.
Ozzy got kicked out in 79, and was later replaced with Ronnie James Dio, who was the vocalist for Rainbow (AKA: Elf plus Ritchie Blackmore). I've talked about Dio before, but let me say once again that he was perhaps the greatest metal vocalist of all time. As for how Black Sabbath changed because of Dio, well, for one, Dio had a completely different voice, different attitude, and different style of writing with a different approach altogether. Dio didn't often follow the riff of a song for his melodies whereas Ozzy did it more than not. Which era was better, though? In my opinion... I have no idea. I don't really think it's fair to compare because they're so musically different.
After Dio left, Sabbath got Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan to replace him, and then he left after a couple albums to form a band called Blue Murder, so they replaced him with Tony Martin. I'm not going into them, because I don't really care for those years as much. That's kind of when I stopped listening to them. Up until they got Ozzy back, and they made their new album, 13, which is freaking awesome. Go buy it.
Holy hell, this is long. Sorry for also making it a history lesson, I just love Black Sabbath. <3
When people think of Black Sabbath (and hopefully know who they are) Ozzy Osbourne would probably come to mind, which is fair. He did have a lot to do with the band in general, and he gave the band it's first name, The Polka Tulk Blues Band. Apparently he came up with it when he found a cheap brand of talcum powder he saw in his mother's bathroom. They then shortened the name to just Polka Tulk, and then eventually changed the name to Earth. Fun Fact: Ozzy HATED that name.
They stuck with that name for a while, thinking they were going to be more of a blues rock band until they saw a movie called Black Sabbath. They wrote a song with the same name, obviously inspired by the movie which is arguably the heaviest song ever written based entirely on the pure evil vibe it gives off. After that, they changed their name to Black Sabbath and started writing more songs of the same nature. Evil, heavy, and freaking awesome.
The Ozzy years are characterized as "heavier, and more political." Heavier, sure? Political, very yes. War and politics were topics that were always used during the Ozzy years. With songs like, War Pigs, they often criticized the governments of the world as, well, war mongering pigs. I'm not one for politics, but these songs are freaking amazing. The lyrics are meaningful, while at the same time feeling like a total diss to whoever Sabbath wanted to go against. The music itself, as in instrumentation and melodies, brilliant. In the world of hard rock/metal, I would almost say that Black Sabbath was The Beatles of that genre. They truly dominated; nothing could touch them.
Ozzy got kicked out in 79, and was later replaced with Ronnie James Dio, who was the vocalist for Rainbow (AKA: Elf plus Ritchie Blackmore). I've talked about Dio before, but let me say once again that he was perhaps the greatest metal vocalist of all time. As for how Black Sabbath changed because of Dio, well, for one, Dio had a completely different voice, different attitude, and different style of writing with a different approach altogether. Dio didn't often follow the riff of a song for his melodies whereas Ozzy did it more than not. Which era was better, though? In my opinion... I have no idea. I don't really think it's fair to compare because they're so musically different.
After Dio left, Sabbath got Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan to replace him, and then he left after a couple albums to form a band called Blue Murder, so they replaced him with Tony Martin. I'm not going into them, because I don't really care for those years as much. That's kind of when I stopped listening to them. Up until they got Ozzy back, and they made their new album, 13, which is freaking awesome. Go buy it.
Holy hell, this is long. Sorry for also making it a history lesson, I just love Black Sabbath. <3
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. He's been making albums for about 6 decades, and he's still making them to this day, so he has to be (minus the Christmas album, of course)
He's a great guitarist, great vocalist, and contrary to what many people think, I actually really like his voice, in the studio, anyway. He's a mess live sometimes, from what I've seen and heard.
While he is an amazing musician, he is also probably the biggest troll in music history. As Mr. A has put it, "He's gotta be f*cking with us!" While there is no clear evidence of this being true, or Bob saying so himself... he totally is. There's nobody weird enough to do/say the stuff he does while meaning every bit of it.
Don't even listen to his music. Just look at the pictures of his other albums, then look up the cover of his Christmas album. By the way, I'd also like to point out that he was an atheist while he made it, and he donated all the profits to charity. What a boss, but he totally planned that whole thing as a way of subliminally saying, "Lets see how much money I can make off the worst thing ever."
The answer? Enough and a lot.
HE'S A GENIUS.
He's a great guitarist, great vocalist, and contrary to what many people think, I actually really like his voice, in the studio, anyway. He's a mess live sometimes, from what I've seen and heard.
While he is an amazing musician, he is also probably the biggest troll in music history. As Mr. A has put it, "He's gotta be f*cking with us!" While there is no clear evidence of this being true, or Bob saying so himself... he totally is. There's nobody weird enough to do/say the stuff he does while meaning every bit of it.
Don't even listen to his music. Just look at the pictures of his other albums, then look up the cover of his Christmas album. By the way, I'd also like to point out that he was an atheist while he made it, and he donated all the profits to charity. What a boss, but he totally planned that whole thing as a way of subliminally saying, "Lets see how much money I can make off the worst thing ever."
The answer? Enough and a lot.
HE'S A GENIUS.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Jonathan Coulton
I was introduced to Jonathan Coulton through a little game called Portal. The ending credits of the game played this song called Still Alive. The song was sang by the antagonist of the game, Glados. She is a computer, and has a more effeminate voice. I liked it, so I looked up the song and found out it was written by a guy named Jonathan Coulton. I looked up a version of him singing it, and I was hooked. I freaking love this guy. His lyrics for the most part seem relatively basic. There's no real use of complex vocabulary. But his delivery, how he writes his melodies, and just how he really tells a story for each and every song, makes everything freaking awesome. The instant I sat down and listened to his hits, I fell in love.
Code Monkey, Still Alive, I Feel Fantastic, Betty and Me, Blue Sunny Day, these are just a few songs to name that really show his charm and overall ability to make you want to listen to everything he plays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BmK8PYm504&noredirect=1
This is a live performance of his song, The Future Soon, which is probably my all time favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxNmeMklFk8&noredirect=1
This is a more silly video of him playing Still Alive
Code Monkey, Still Alive, I Feel Fantastic, Betty and Me, Blue Sunny Day, these are just a few songs to name that really show his charm and overall ability to make you want to listen to everything he plays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BmK8PYm504&noredirect=1
This is a live performance of his song, The Future Soon, which is probably my all time favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxNmeMklFk8&noredirect=1
This is a more silly video of him playing Still Alive
S.O.D. (Stormtroopers of Death)
This band is stupid. Yet at the same time, they're freaking awesome. They are probably one of the heaviest bands within the knowledge of bands I can refer to, and that's what makes them awesome. Yet, that's kind of the only appeal to this band, which makes them kind of dumb, but I really like them. The inner metalhead in me is very pleased by their existence. And by that I mean whenever I hear them, the little voice in my head goes, "F******CK YEAH!", and I proceed to break everything around me, or at least, I feel the urge to. S.O.D. is the kind of band that doesn't really impress me musically, but they're just fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReoMBYAoSWA&noredirect=1
What I've posted is the link to their entire album, Speak English or Die. The reason I'm posting an entire album is because it's short. Short to me, anyway. That, and I honestly don't expect many people to be reading this. That, and you don't have to listen to it. You could just judge me based on knowledge you don't have. <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReoMBYAoSWA&noredirect=1
What I've posted is the link to their entire album, Speak English or Die. The reason I'm posting an entire album is because it's short. Short to me, anyway. That, and I honestly don't expect many people to be reading this. That, and you don't have to listen to it. You could just judge me based on knowledge you don't have. <3
Monday, September 30, 2013
LCD Soundsystem (Shut Up and Play the Hits)
I don't really know what to think of this group. The music is more of an electronic based thing that I'm usually not all that into, but I don't mind it. They have a nice sound, and I can definitely see the overall appeal. It's very fun music, while also very chill. It makes me feel like I'm at a club just having a nice time rather then a major party.
But then we have the thing that makes me confused. The singer. From what I saw in the movie, I can't say whether or not he was just not having a very good day, or if he has these "problems" on the record too.
I put "problems" in quotes, because there are things that he did with his voice that I freaking hated just on a personal level. Things that just me think, "Don't ever sing like that again." But there were other times where I thought his voice was great. Amazing, almost. He was a very mixed bag, and I rarely feel that way in terms of singers. Not to this extent anyway. You try explaining how someone sucks real hard, yet is really awesome at something at the same time. You can't because it makes no sense, but taken into account of this dude, and it makes perfect sense.
In conclusion, the best part of the movie was the singer's dog. Watch the movie just for the dog. She's adorable.
But then we have the thing that makes me confused. The singer. From what I saw in the movie, I can't say whether or not he was just not having a very good day, or if he has these "problems" on the record too.
I put "problems" in quotes, because there are things that he did with his voice that I freaking hated just on a personal level. Things that just me think, "Don't ever sing like that again." But there were other times where I thought his voice was great. Amazing, almost. He was a very mixed bag, and I rarely feel that way in terms of singers. Not to this extent anyway. You try explaining how someone sucks real hard, yet is really awesome at something at the same time. You can't because it makes no sense, but taken into account of this dude, and it makes perfect sense.
In conclusion, the best part of the movie was the singer's dog. Watch the movie just for the dog. She's adorable.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Dio
Next to Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Ronnie James Dio is probably my biggest inspiration in music and singing. A lot of his songwriting has to do with almost midevil styles, and it works. I like it. Kinda reminds me of Led Zeppelin, sorta. In Dio's case, it's a ton more heavy, and more emphasis is probably put into vocals rather than instruments. No offense to Zeppelin at all, I think they're fantastic.
Dio's voice is something else. When he's really belting it, and rocking it, it makes me get a burst of energy like, "Holy F*ck, lets break something and scream." Bu then there's moments like in Children of the Sea, Sign of the Southern Cross, or Falling off the Edge of the World, where he's singing more softly at moments. He sounds beautiful. On top of him having one of the greatest voices in all of metal, he's an amazing performer. Like Ozzy, he refused to have a concert where not everyone in the audience was screaming as loud as they could. Makes sense. The audience has to get into it in order for most metal to be really fun.
Live performance of Children of the Sea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNJ0fMdeWEc&noredirect=1
The video I just linked was the last concert he ever played. Dio died of stomach cancer in May of 2010. Many, especially myself, were devastated. I share this with you, so you may know what I truly respect. May he rest in peace.
Dio's voice is something else. When he's really belting it, and rocking it, it makes me get a burst of energy like, "Holy F*ck, lets break something and scream." Bu then there's moments like in Children of the Sea, Sign of the Southern Cross, or Falling off the Edge of the World, where he's singing more softly at moments. He sounds beautiful. On top of him having one of the greatest voices in all of metal, he's an amazing performer. Like Ozzy, he refused to have a concert where not everyone in the audience was screaming as loud as they could. Makes sense. The audience has to get into it in order for most metal to be really fun.
Live performance of Children of the Sea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNJ0fMdeWEc&noredirect=1
The video I just linked was the last concert he ever played. Dio died of stomach cancer in May of 2010. Many, especially myself, were devastated. I share this with you, so you may know what I truly respect. May he rest in peace.
Smokey Robinson
A few days back we learned a good bit about Motown, and how many freakin awesome artists were involved in it. My favorite out of all of them would have to be Smokey Robinson. Smokey was interesting to me in a performance standpoint, but I mainly loved him in a musical standpoint. He has a total girl voice, and it's awesome. That, added with the harmonies heard from the other members just sounds almost heavenly to me.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Iron Maiden and Megadeth concert
You read the title, probably, so I'll just get to the point. It was probably the greatest concert/show I've ever been to. Iron Maiden is my most favorite band of all time, as I've probably stated before (at least on my first post in this blog)
Megadeth has started playing everything a whole step down from standard tuning because I think that Dave's just losing his voice, that and it's just heavier. They opened with Hangar 18, which was a little unexpected, then went into Wake Up Dead, which was pretty typical, did some other songs which were flawless, and ended with Holy Wars which is what's always expected. As soon as I can find the concert, or clips of it on youtube, I'll post it. Maybe I'll find something with me moshing.
Before I talk about Iron Maiden, I'd like to address the audience and location. Audience: they were all so freaking drunk, at least the adults were. I got a lot of beer thrown on me as the show went on. Everyone was smoking, whether it was cigarettes and/or weed. Saying that, breathing was a little hard. I got really tired in the mosh pit probably because there was so little oxygen. The Amphitheater was a really really nice venue. Very open, and I loved the overall sound quality.
Now to Iron Maiden: the main reason I went. Let alone the fact that Iron Maiden is and was so tight, they're also just great performers.
Here's a live video of them in Canada I think. A few years back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBtLMLQfiRo
Funny thing, Bruce Dickinson (the singer) is a trained pilot, and he flies the plane that they use for their tours. Hardcore. I hope you all enjoy that video, and if you like it, that song is off their 3rd album Number Of The Beast which is also the first album Bruce Dickinson sang on. Check it out, if you like it. And if you do like it, check out their other albums. All 15 of them are truly spectacular.
As soon as I can, I'll try to post some links here from the concert I went to. I promise. <3
Megadeth has started playing everything a whole step down from standard tuning because I think that Dave's just losing his voice, that and it's just heavier. They opened with Hangar 18, which was a little unexpected, then went into Wake Up Dead, which was pretty typical, did some other songs which were flawless, and ended with Holy Wars which is what's always expected. As soon as I can find the concert, or clips of it on youtube, I'll post it. Maybe I'll find something with me moshing.
Before I talk about Iron Maiden, I'd like to address the audience and location. Audience: they were all so freaking drunk, at least the adults were. I got a lot of beer thrown on me as the show went on. Everyone was smoking, whether it was cigarettes and/or weed. Saying that, breathing was a little hard. I got really tired in the mosh pit probably because there was so little oxygen. The Amphitheater was a really really nice venue. Very open, and I loved the overall sound quality.
Now to Iron Maiden: the main reason I went. Let alone the fact that Iron Maiden is and was so tight, they're also just great performers.
Here's a live video of them in Canada I think. A few years back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBtLMLQfiRo
Funny thing, Bruce Dickinson (the singer) is a trained pilot, and he flies the plane that they use for their tours. Hardcore. I hope you all enjoy that video, and if you like it, that song is off their 3rd album Number Of The Beast which is also the first album Bruce Dickinson sang on. Check it out, if you like it. And if you do like it, check out their other albums. All 15 of them are truly spectacular.
As soon as I can, I'll try to post some links here from the concert I went to. I promise. <3
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Beatles movie and The Beatles in general
Musically, is there anything anyone can say is wrong with The Beatles? I can't really think of anything, and this isn't new, because I've never been able to in my entire life. Everything they wrote and did was full of personality and honesty, and that's why they were such a success. From what was shown in the movie, they were practically brothers. Not to say brothers always get along, but when they do, it's the closest kind of love that can be expressed. People went absolutely nuts for them, especially young, teenage girls. Based on what I've heard from Mr. A., there was a show they played in New York, and all the seats in the theater were ruined because of the girls pissing themselves. Holy shit. I've never heard of any other band that has that kind of power of people.
However that power leads to the main downside of any Beatles concert you can look up ever, and this is a dumb, nitpicky thing... but it's freaking loud. The collection of all the girls screaming is beyond nails on a chalkboard. It's like a Banshee raping your eardrums.
But, this just shows how freaking awesome The Beatles were, are, and always will be.
Here's a crazy ass music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axb2sHpGwHQ
On a bit of a different topic, Ringo Starr has a website for artwork he makes using Microsoft Paint, and it's amazing. Check it out here: http://ringostarrart.com/starr_artwork.htm
However that power leads to the main downside of any Beatles concert you can look up ever, and this is a dumb, nitpicky thing... but it's freaking loud. The collection of all the girls screaming is beyond nails on a chalkboard. It's like a Banshee raping your eardrums.
But, this just shows how freaking awesome The Beatles were, are, and always will be.
Here's a crazy ass music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axb2sHpGwHQ
On a bit of a different topic, Ringo Starr has a website for artwork he makes using Microsoft Paint, and it's amazing. Check it out here: http://ringostarrart.com/starr_artwork.htm
Friday, September 6, 2013
Pantera
Pantera. One of my favorite bands of all time. It's hard to find things about the band I don't like. Dimebag Darrel was an amazing guitarist (may he rest in peace), Vinnie Paul is a total monster on the drums, Rex is my dream bass player for metal bands this freaking heavy, and Phil Anselmo has a sick voice. The thing about Pantera I really like is the attitude they give off. Texas Heavy Metal at it's finest: They're tough mofos, and if you piss them off, you won't be a problem for much longer. Here's the song I just happen to be listening to as I'm writing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7njvwB-Ks
If I had to pick one thing "wrong" with the band as the years for them went on, it's that Phil Anselmo's vocals got more on the screaming side and less classic metal vocals, which makes me sad. I love singers with that style. If you wanna hear some of what I'm talking about from Phil, check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4bMEP1iTso
If you like those vocals more, it's off their album Cowboys From Hell. Give it a listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7njvwB-Ks
If I had to pick one thing "wrong" with the band as the years for them went on, it's that Phil Anselmo's vocals got more on the screaming side and less classic metal vocals, which makes me sad. I love singers with that style. If you wanna hear some of what I'm talking about from Phil, check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4bMEP1iTso
If you like those vocals more, it's off their album Cowboys From Hell. Give it a listen.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Metallica (Ride The Lightning)
Today I was at my bass lesson because I play bass. Hooray. Anyway, while I was there Ahmed (my bass teacher) and I were working on a bunch of Metallica songs for this Metallica tribute show I'm doing for School Of Rock, and we've been doing this for weeks just to really get prepared. Anywho, today we worked on Ride The Lightning, Creeping Death, and Fight Fire With Fire. All of which are from the Ride The Lightning album, which is awesome. I really dig it because it's heavy as shit, while at the same time being real complex and musical. (Thank you Cliff Burton.)
Here's Creeping Death http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWq3f01e2U
Here's Creeping Death http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWq3f01e2U
Roots of Rock
Yesterday in class, we listened to and talked about classic rock and roll artists from the 50's, such as Chuck Barry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly.
While I love all of these dudes, Little Richard stands out the most to me, and he always has been because I love his performance. That to me, is the real selling point to him. I love Jerry Lee Lewis for similar reasons, but he's more on the crazy side which is cool but he's also just freaking weird. At least I think so. I try not to judge one's music based on one's personal life, but the dude has been married 5 times, 3 of his wives he murdered, and one of the ones he didn't kill was his cousin which he married when she was 13, and divorced her 13 years later. Great guy.
While I love all of these dudes, Little Richard stands out the most to me, and he always has been because I love his performance. That to me, is the real selling point to him. I love Jerry Lee Lewis for similar reasons, but he's more on the crazy side which is cool but he's also just freaking weird. At least I think so. I try not to judge one's music based on one's personal life, but the dude has been married 5 times, 3 of his wives he murdered, and one of the ones he didn't kill was his cousin which he married when she was 13, and divorced her 13 years later. Great guy.
My story
When I was around 10 years old or so, I picked up my first my first Iron Maiden record, Number of the Beast. I was young, didn't feel like I had much purpose in life or at least not yet, but ever since that day, I can say that I've probably listened to Iron Maiden nearly every single day of my life since then. I would stay in my room and sing along with the songs to try to sound just like Bruce Dickinson wanting to be just like him (I still do that, actually.)
It wasn't until I was maybe 12 or 13 when I decided that I wanted to seriously take music as a career, so I just happen to meet this dude who just so happens to be my best friend in the world now who needed a singer for a band he was fixing on starting, so I volunteered.
I try to listen and appreciate every genre whether it's country, pop, techno, you name it. I do like everything to a certain extent. But when it comes down to everything, heavy metal will always be my favorite mainly because of the attitude. To this day, Iron Maiden is still my favorite band, but I love The Beatles, The Who, Rush, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, King Crimson, etc.
Music is my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I refuse. I'd probably be dead without it. I don't wanna do anything else in my life but make and play music for people.
It wasn't until I was maybe 12 or 13 when I decided that I wanted to seriously take music as a career, so I just happen to meet this dude who just so happens to be my best friend in the world now who needed a singer for a band he was fixing on starting, so I volunteered.
I try to listen and appreciate every genre whether it's country, pop, techno, you name it. I do like everything to a certain extent. But when it comes down to everything, heavy metal will always be my favorite mainly because of the attitude. To this day, Iron Maiden is still my favorite band, but I love The Beatles, The Who, Rush, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, King Crimson, etc.
Music is my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I refuse. I'd probably be dead without it. I don't wanna do anything else in my life but make and play music for people.
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