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.
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