And I'm Back!

I've returned from my globetrotting adventures, unfortunately with no job, but with a hefty list of albums listened to. I had a combined 36 hours of flying and waiting in hotels, so I listened to a lot of music. It would have been much more but my iPod died at the half-way point and it took me some time to find someone with a charger to juice it up. As so, the trip back home had a lot less going for it.
All of the albums are from my Favorite Albums page, as I just put that playlist on 'shuffle album' and went crazy. Albums 1 through 12 were all in transit to Scotland, where only albums 13 through 17 were from the way back. In this time I also watched 4 movies (Death At A Funeral, The A-Team, Clash of The Titans, Shrek Forever After) and read an entire book, so my time wasn't all wasted.

The Future

By the time this posts I will be on a plane headed to Scotland - well actually it's headed to Atlanta first, but the ending destination is Scotland - for a job interview. In the short term this meant that there wont be any posts for a while (just a week and I've often gone longer then that when I was in the US). In the long term - and if I get the job - this means that this website may be put off for a while. See I wont have a computer this week and if I move there it may be a month or more before I buy a new computer. I will keep this site going, and maybe this is premature, but it's an issue to be addressed. But until we come to that bridge to cross, I wish you all the best of luck in your endeavors, and I hope you do the same to me (hope for me people!). I will see you when I cross the pond again.

Keep rockin'

-K-

New Band: The Assorted Dax Riggs Projects

While not technically 100% brand new, I just finished listening to Dax Riggs' complete discography and I really liked what I heard, in all forms. Riggs was the singer in a number of bands, from the sludge-gods Acid Bath, to the more stoner rock groups, Agents of Oblivion and Deadboy And The Elephantmen, and now he works on his solo work, with more of an acoustic/alternative sound, but the dark elements of his past work are ever present. (Side note, I don't get why Agents of Oblivion and Deadboy And The Elephantment have official websites - if only very basic and outdated - but Acid Bath and Dax Riggs himself only have MySpace's... interesting)

Acid Bath is legendary in most metal circles, and it is interesting to see the varied groups that enjoy their music. I've met people who don't usually listen to metal that have heard - and listen - to Acid Bath, on the other end I have met metalhead fans of all genres - be it death, doom, or progressive - who have shown interest in the themes or music of the group. It's actually kind of amusing.
Anyway, Acid Bath blended the sounds of doom and hardcore, with all sorts of sounds in-between. With such an eclectic collection of sounds, it's amazing how much of an underground following they have collected, even now almost 15 years after their break-up, hell I had never heard of them more then 5 years ago. That is some staying power. It could have been the artwork from their first album, When The Kite String Pops, known for hosting a picture that the serial killer John Wayne Gacy painted while in prison on death row. It's those kind of touches (and the population's focus on morbidity) that I think helped the band stay in the underground mindset for so long.
After one more release, Paegan Terrorism Tactics, the group broke-up following the death of bassist Audie Pitre (killed by a drunk driver), and the members all split off to form their own groups of all metal genres; ranging from the sludge Crowbar, and Goatwhore, the doom Vual, and the black metal (with two bassists and no guitars) Shrum. Dax Riggs choose to go in a different direction, to the stoner rock project Agents of Oblivion.

Retrospective: Type O Negative (Part 2)

I thought I had written and posted part 2 of Type O Negative's discography long ago - soon after I had posted the first one, in March - so I apologize for the great delay between. I'm just going to use frontman Peter Steele's death in April as my excuse (even though I know that's a load of shit).
Anyway, here's part two:

October Rust (1996)

 Following up the immensely popular Bloody Kisses, October Rust was pushed by the record label to be more accessible to the average audience. In this trial they both succeeded and failed, with some songs like "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" and "Cinnamon Girl" (a Neil Young cover, in their usual comedic fashion) are a little more mainstream metal then their past works. On the flip side they continue the trend of having their normal tongue-in-cheek songs; "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)," "Be My Druidess," and "Love You to Death," and then they have their 'throw-away songs,' songs that are not really songs at all. Either they have looping feedback or are some dreary collection of sounds - more like noise or drone then anything else - which are present in most ToN albums, like the long-titled "The Glorious Liberation of the People's Technocratic Republic of Vinnland by the Combined Forces of the United Territories of Europa." It's a selective comedy that the group has, but long-time fans are well aware of this brand of humor and fully expect it. For October Rust, however, it seems to go a bit overboard, with a lot of throw-away songs and joke tracks, it takes away from the album proper. It's as if that with the record company pushing them for something more mainstream, they complied for a handful of tracks and decided to rebel greatly for the others. But what did the record company care? They got their singles, and that's all that matters to them. Regardless, after the stellar success of Bloody Kisses, October Rust was bound to be a sales goldmine, and to a point it was; it sold well and helped the band out, but the trend could not continue with the executives pressing at their backs and their fans pushing for 'classic' Type O Negative, and what would become World Coming Down as the result.

Favorite Albums: Type O Negative - Dead Again

Type O Negative's latest - and quite possible last - release, Dead Again is their magnum opus. It continues the trend they started with Life Is Killing Me, that of an album with no 'throw away' songs; not only that but each song off this album is pretty damn good. Because of this, Dead Again is my favorite album from the band's discography. Most of the songs are long, multi-styled, and deep in lyrics, meaning and production. The tracks merge genres, with some being the thrash/sludge sound of their early works, others are outright depressive doom, while some tread the line into atmospheric/experimental; it is a transverse group of music.
Best songs (if you can choose such) are the first five tracks; "Dead Again," "Tripping a Blind Man," "The Profits of Doom," "September Sun," and "Halloween in Heaven," while the second half tends to drag on a bit. The second half, tracks 6 through 10, are not bad songs, on their own or in another album they would be great, but compared to the stellar songs that start this release they lag behind the curve.

Albums Listened To In August (45)

It's the end of August already...crazy. I say that but as I look back over this list I see some of the albums I listened to and can't believe that I heard those albums this month. It seems so far away. I might switch back to the week by week next month, just because I like being able to see the time line for what albums I have listened to. You only miss something when it is gone, I thought the whole month layout was better, but I'm beginning to see the benefits to the breakdown.
Only 45 albums this month, my numbers are steadily going down ever sense I moved closer to my job and got a new position at work. I am slowly getting back to the average numbers for the first year of having this website. I feel that my numbers will float around fifty for the foreseeable future, which is pretty decent I have to say.
Bringing this up reminded me that the two year anniversary of this blog is coming up! I have nothing special planned or anything, just worth mentioning. Hopefully by next month I'll have moved, or be moving soon, to Scotland - I have a job interview this week - so this blog might take a slight turn as I cross the pond. We'll see, and hope... hope for me damn you!!

Also, this is another month where I have this article all written and primed to go off on the first of the month, instead of putting it off a week like I do half of the time. What can I say? It's been a boring day at work.

Retrospective: The Offspring (Part 2)

The second part of The Offspring's discography. This half of their career hold my favorite records by the group, and these are the albums I listen to the most. As such I could write a stand-alone article for all of these discs, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet for this purpose.

Americana (1998)
Already went into my nostalgic telling of Americana. One of my favorites.

Conspiracy of One (2000)
Not the best Offspring album, Conspiracy of One is an alright release by the group. By this time I was in eighth grade and the pop-punk song "Original Prankster" (the first single) became my new anthem. Something about being a rebel and burning stuff down appealed to me. And even now, after the album has had several plays, looking at the track list I can only really remember that single and "Want You Bad" (one of my favorite Offspring songs) as anything worth listening to. I bet if I had listened to it right before writing this I could pick out a few more good songs, but a true test of a good album and song is its longevity, and for me that only includes the two singles.

Retrospective: The Offspring (Part 1)

After going through my favorite albums from The Offspring (Americana, Splinter, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace) and writing a whole breakdown of Americana, I decided to go all in and do a Retrospective for the group.

The Offspring are one of the big three in the Punk Revival scene of the early 90's (along with Green Day and Rancid), and personally my favorite. Americana was the first album I ever bought with my own money (I was in 6th grade), which signified the beginning of my musical independence from my parents (everyone starts as a child with only their parent's music to go with) and led down the winding road to who I am now.
The group's sound has changes over the years, beginning with a down-and-dirty style, semi-hardcore/garage rock if you will, into a melding of grunge and punk in the 90's, then to a more 'poppy' simple sound of the early 2000's. The release of their latest album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, sees the band heading into a 'smarter' venue of music, with musically and lyrically diverse songs and themes, blending in some progressive elements into their punk.
Because I came into the group at Americana, I am a much bigger fan of the second half of the group's career, but I still enjoy the early albums, some of the early singles - though dark and depressing (grunge) - are quite catchy and a good listen. Supposedly the group has another album coming out at the end of this year or into the next. I really want to see in what direction the band heads at this point in their career.

The Offspring (1989)
With lower production values and faster, shorter songs, The Offspring's self-titled debut was more akin to the 'classic' punk of the 80s then what would emerge as a forerunner of the punk rock revival movement. I rarely listen to this album, not being a fan of the style, so I may not be the best person to break it down. Stand-outs "Jennifer Lost the War," "Beheaded," and "Tehran" are all worth a listen, and they show up from time to time in movies or in compilations. Other then that, I really have nothing to say. Awesome album art though, A+ for presentation.

Video: sHEAVY - "Savannah" (Live)

While the songs "Savannah" is not my favorite sHEAVY song, it is still a good one, and the choices are limited as far as sHEAVY music videos go. It's a live version, but the sound quality is pretty decent, and seems to be semi-professionally done. One thing I didn't like about this video is that you can tell that the singer is forcing his voice to be in the winy-high pitched style that he sings (and live it doesn't come off 100%). I don't know about you, but I always sorta assumes that was just the way his voice was, and they were making the best of it. Not as a gimmick or some stunt. I still love the band, but now I am hesitant to see them live (hell who am I kidding I would totally go!).
Well, that being said, enjoy sHEAVY playing "Savannah" live!

Favorite Albums: The Offspring - Americana

This is it. This is the beginning of it all. The Offspring's Americana was the first album that I ever bought with my own money, being only 12 at the time, it was kind of a big deal. It had blatant use of the words 'fuck,' 'shit,' and 'bitch,' while not new phrases for me, the fact that I could listen to these songs in the presence of my parents was a big deal. Up to this point my musical tastes were dominated by what my parents listened to. Fortunately, most of this was good music, with my dad being a hard rock/metal fan from way back (Manowar, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Deep Purple, etc) and my mother enjoying piano music (Billy Joel and Elton John), British (The Beatles, The Pretenders) and ...well mom stuff (lots of soulful women and poppy tunes). It was from this eclectic upbringing that I evolved, first into punk revival (The Offspring and Green Day) and nu metal (KoRn and Limp Bizkit), then later into power metal and beyond. But it all began with Americana.

Retrospective: Amplifer

(I've had this post 90% complete for two months now, never wanting to sit down and finish it up. But after writing the post for Demons And Wizards, I decided to get cracking. So thank Uriah Heep for me ever finishing this article.)

I've had the latest Amplifier album (Insider) for over a year now, and up to now have never given it a listen. But in the past week I was really bored (after my week of roadtrips - 1,200 miles in 5 days) so I let my computer decide for me. I went to my full 50,000+ song library and hit 'random', pledging to listen to whatever popped up. This is the engrossing tale of how I heard/fell in love with Amplifier. Instantly after listening to Insider, I went out and found their first album, and their two EPs and gave them all a listen as well - was not disappointed.

To begin with, their overall sound; Amplifier is an alternative progressive rock band (I know, a mouthful). Their music is not really heavy, and it does seem to move time signatures and styles throughout, and it hosts a mix of spacey and funky sounds. To put it in a nutshell, it sounds like a more progressive Incubus; you know, early Incubus, just a bit more progressive and incorporates a bit of industrial sound (just a smidge). I realize that my description of this group is not beneficial in any way, as it seems to drift, but that is what the music does - drifts from style to style with no course in sight. And it works!

Amplifier (2004)
Their debut album was re-released two times before their second recording, and after listening to it, one can see why. It was originally released on the small/independent label Music For Nations in 2004, before being picked up for a wider release by SPV - with a bonus EP worth of material. I wasn't lucky enough to have this special release, instead finding only the original track version. This album is the groups most 'safe' album. In all of the articles I read about the group, they were called an alternative band, with almost no mention of the progressive elements. This album is probably what the writers were referring to. While there is a hint of the progressive sound, it is mostly alternative rock, with a splash of heavier/metal sounds throughout. It seems like a good place to start, and a good way to get noticed, but I am glad the changes that ended up happening, happened.

Favorite Albums: Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards

It's been a while, and I have at least two articles that could use my attention, but I just listened to Demons and Wizards by Uriah Heep again and I feel the need to tell you all about this spectacular album. I've already gone into the history of Uriah Heep (way back in January of 2009) so I don't need to go into to much detail on that front. They were/are a British band that is one of the foundations of hard rock and heavy metal music. More specifically, they are the forerunners of progressive rock and - by extension - progressive metal. They were among the first to use dual lead guitars, and layered semi-operatic vocals. Many of their songs were narratives, telling of mystical battles and amazing people; Demons and Wizards was no different.

Albums Listened To In July (58)

I'm reverting back to the old style of it all being in one list, it's easier to keep track of and honestly I was breaking it that way so it was easier to post to The Metal Minute's weekly post of 'Whattya Listenin' to Wednesdays'. But seeing as that is pretty much done with (the author is taking a sporadic hiatus) I am reverting back to the old ways.

I began this month with the hopes of keeping it all mostly brand new music, this lasted about a week and then I started in with the discographies; first was KoЯn, then 3 Doors Down - I think I was doing a whole nostalgia thing (with them both being something I listened to quite a bit in High School). Throw in some new releases by some of my favorite bands (sHEAVY, KoЯn (which is what started the nostalgia trend), and Kiua) and a collection of stoner songs (the various Stonerrock.com compilations) and you have a full month!

Nothing Really To Report

Sorry guys about the lack of updates, I have not forgotten about you. It's just that I have nothing really to say. I'm not listening to too much new music, and what I do hear is just random bands and random artists. No trends, no retrospectives (although I did listen to the entire Korn discography). no concerts. It's been a dull month.

I'm going to try and get something posted. I have a couple of half-finished articles I could work on, but honestly, I am so burnt out on life and work that I really don't ever have the want to do anything.

Those of you who frequent Angry Chairs know that I have been active there, but only because those posts take a max time of 10 min (a lot longer if you count the uploading, but usually I watch a movie or am at work when that is all going down). So I have not been slacking on my duties here for that blog! Although if you have the time check it out.

Video: Iron Maiden "The Final Frontier"

Joining the groups of people and pages posting this video. I've only heard it once, but the song itself is pretty decent. I'd like this video more if they would have edited the sound effects once the song actually started, but oh well. I'll deff have to support the greats when this album finally comes out. Actually buying a album (first sense the CD store by me closed) will be highly warranted. Iron Maiden is still a band I want to see before I (or more likely, they) die. I am now accepting tickets from fans!


The Final Frontier - Director's Cut

Iron Maiden | MySpace Music Videos

MC Chris, MC Lars, Math The Band Live

Ok, so it's been a couple of weeks, but this is one of the first chances I've had (and felt like) to write about my experience seeing MC Chris live, for the 9th time I believe, this time with the nerdcore great MC Lars, and the indie-experimental-synth band Math The Band.

First, the venue: Once again we were at The Social, here in Orlando. I've been to the social a bunch of times - mostly to see MC Chris - so I knew what I was getting into. We got there a hour before the doors opened, because the venue is small and we wanted the front row on the higher level (like 3 feet higher then the floor). That gives us a great view, and we get a railing to lean against and put our beers on. As I said, we've been there a bunch, so we are experts on the ways of The Social. As a little side remark, we almost got into a fight with a guy in a wheelchair. Actually the guy (I call his 'wheels') was cool, it was his friends and one random really drunk guy that were being pricks about the whole thing. Long story, just thought I'd add that taste for flavor.

Web Radio: New Normal Music

So yesterday I found the launch page for this 'new' form of web radio, New Normal Music. It was launched last night/this morning at midnight, so I haven't had a lot of time to listen to it, but it seems like a neat idea.

Apparently, from what the intro page says, its a radio station dedicated to truly new music; that is music that has been released within the past 12 months. It actually says that there will be no Sublime, U2, Blink-182, or Red Hot Chili Peppers played.... although I suppose if these bands released an album within the past year (read: U2) then they might apply, but who knows. As I said this thing has been going on for less then 24 hours.
They are opening their website by playing 50,000 songs in a row, after that it doesn't mention. They also make a big deal about being able to call in requests from anywhere in the world. I don't know how efficient that may be, but it's kind of a nifty idea. Of course, you would have to know if the song you want is 12 months old or not, and I assume they don't have a limitless collection, but still kind of cool.
So far, from what I've heard played, it seems to be based towards the alternative and indie crowds. A lot of Beatle-esq sounding bands, or otherwise light and fluffy music. So not really my scene, but in 50,000 the styles might change. I'm going to be checking in to see how it goes over the next few days. So for the next 100+ days (50k songs at 4 minutes a song come to over 138 days) check out the flow of the newest web radio (even though it says it isn't radio) station out there: New Normal Music.

Albums Listened To In June (58)

I have moved a lot closer to work, my 45 minute drive each way has been trimmed to 10. Thus, my play counts have suffered. The first two weeks would have horrible numbers (three or four) but I went on a road trip during each of those weeks, and my playlist for the trips saved the weeks. Week 3 was the moving week, so I had a bunch of packing and un-packing music to enjoy, but once again in week 4 music fell to the wayside. I saw MC Chris and MC Lars in concert, and then decided to listen to their music, which is the only reason I had as many as I did.
There was almost nothing new played, with only a little over half a dozen new albums heard. So there is no real point to break down my likes and dislikes for the month. That being said I would like to give some special notice to Amplifier, who I am working on an article for, and for Snailface, a new stoner band that you can download for free off their website. Both were bright points in the month.
If these low numbers continue, I may switch back to the old way of organizing these lists.

Writing For Angry Chairs!

For a long time I have been a reader and, um... an 'acquirer' of another blog called Angry Chairs. It is another site dedicated to the spreading of music... under questionable legality means, of which has benefited my collection immensely.
But regardless to all that I have been picked from several potentials to join their little project, and I have accepted. So head over there to check out what music I have to add to the already immense collection they have.
This shouldn't affect the postings on this site... seeing as they are already pretty sketchy. I have two 90% done articles cued up. Just got to hit that last 10%, which is taking forever.

Anyway, keep reading and mozey over to Angry Chairs for some more of The Klepto

40,000 Listens!

Ok, so I'm a little late. My plan was to write about my 40,000th play, according to last.fm. Whatever song it was, whatever band it was. Unfortunately, I didn't think to look at my last.fm until today, where upon I saw that I was already at 40,470 listens. But still, that's pretty good right? Over 40,000 songs in a little over 4 years (joined last.fm on April 25, 2006 - it keeps count, not me). So I am averaging 10,000 songs a year, or 27.3972 songs a day. Let me say that again, I am AVERAGING over 27 SONGS A DAY!!! That is insane when you think about it. Lets average the number of songs on an album to 15 (I know there is a huge variance, with doom and progressive bands only having 4 songs and punk and thrash bands in upwards of 20. But 15 is what I chose so lets go with it). That means that every day for the past four years I have listened to just about 2 complete albums - this by itself not to extraordinary (hell I'm currently on my fourth for the day) - but for a year or two there I was not listening to nearly as much music as I am now. I'd like to say that out of the 40,000 songs, at least 30,000 of them were within the past two years; and a larger chunk of that group was been from when I began this blog (or right before). That, my friends, is crazy.

New Layout

Just started messing with the new Blogger editor that they've just released. Things might change a bit more in the next few weeks as I tinker. My favorite part of the new scheme is that I can edit the width of the actual posts, which makes them seem a lot less scrunched. The down side to this is that all of my old posts look really tiny (from the front page), as I was planning my posts around this small style. Now I can fit more in the way of pictures, videos and content. We'll see what fun I can get into.

Keep Rockin!
- The Klepto -

The Pyro is Back! - 30 Seconds to Mars

Hello all faithful readers.  After a brief interlude of laziness, I am back to post some entries.   I live in NYC and now that I have a good 2+ hour transit to AND from my place of dwelling to my place of work, I have enough time to post blogs.  Anyway, back to the good stuff:
30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie (Special Edition)

First off, this band is amazing.   This album is amazing.  There was not one track that I didn't enjoy.  You know how there are some albums where all the songs are good save for one? **Coughcoughbeatleswhitealbumcough**  Not this one.  Each song tells a story, and to me.....It's more than song.  They don't conform to the usual format: Intro-Chorus-Verse 1-Chorus-Verse 2-Chorus-Chorus-Done......No sir.  Like I said, nearly each song tells a story, and if you listen to them. Like ACTUALLY listen to them; you'll understand.   Another thing that I think is just fantastic about 30StM is Jared Leto's voice.  It's chilling and strikes you to your core.   And it's not so much how he sounds but the passion he puts into the music.  You can feel it.  That's how powerful it is.   There isn't much more I can say about this band/album. I'd be beating a dead horse into the ground

Rating: 4.8/5     Album - GET IT NOW!!  GET OFF THIS COMPUTER (save the site) AND GO GET THIS ALBUM!!!

Video: Goatmill "I'm On A Boat"

Another humorous video I found online. I like how all of my video posts are getting away from legitimate songs and moving towards whatever random crap I can paste together. Oh well, it makes me laugh.

This installment of my video collection is a death metal cover of "I'm On A Boat" done by Goatmill, featuring Evil Genius, originally done by the SNL skit group The Lonely Island. Now, I don't know anything about Goatmill or Evil Genius - not liking death metal -  but this is still a clever idea, and a not too bad song.

Eventually I'll get back to some real videos on here, but to be fair, I don't hear too much good new music coming out, and nothing that shows off an amazing video. If you know of something I'm missing let me know!

Albums Listened To May (69)

Well this month was musically interesting. It stared with high hopes - finishing the Elton John kick I was previously on - but ended kind of lacklusterly. This was another month of not too much new music listened to, instead opting for classics or just an album I haven't heard from in a while. More nostalgia then exploratory I guess...
And for some reason, at around week 2, I got really fed up with listening to an artist for a full album - both for new music and for albums I know and love. I don't know why, but the thought of listening to a full 10 tracks (or whatever) of the same music was beyond my reach. So it's been mostly random playlists of the best of the best, instead of the normal collection of albums. This trend has continued into week 1 of June, I wonder how long it will keep up.

Video: Mastadon "Cut you up with a Linoleum Knife"

 Not really sure if "Cut you up with a Linoleum Knife" is the proper title for this, but it makes sense.
This is part of the intro to the movie 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters', as a metal spoof of the normal movie jingle "Let's go out to the lobby". The only reason I put it up is because it is awesome, and it is Mastodon playing it (as I just found out).
Now you all know I'm not a huge fan of Mastodon, in fact the only other mention of them I have on this blog is another video, but this piece is short, funny, and the music isn't bad.

Enjoy

Current Trend: NWOBHM

So because I am trying to begin again with the Current Trends, I have been attempting to segment my listening styles into one or two set genres, with varying levels of success. And because of my lack of wanting to sit and write, this Trend is not so Current. But oh well, here we go.

This time my focus was on music from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM), the direct precursor to power metal, and indirect host of hair/glam metal and thereby (as an anti-theses) thrash. These bands were among the first to introduce the dueling guitar style, and often had early operatic-style vocals and fantasy stories with the songs. Many of these bands had large live shows as well, and were claimed to be the silver age of metal (the golden age being the founders of metal, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc, from the decades before). The majority of these bands took hold in the late 70's/early 80's and were lead by such greats as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Motorhead. These bands dominated the airways and charts for the better part of a decade, until the likes of glam became popular and more straight-forward rock acts like Guns 'N Roses and Van Halen began to flourish.

Ronnie James Dio Is Dead

I'm joining the masses of bloggers and mourners; Ronnie James Dio, leader of such amazing bands as Elf, Black Sabbath (for a time), Dio (solo), and Heaven and Hell, has passed away from stomach cancer. His wife, Wendy, released this message a few short minutes ago:

“Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”

New Band: End of Level Boss

Yet another band that tempted me because of a catchy name (hint hint to you new bands out there), End of Level Boss is another stoner rock/metal band (it's so hard to make the distinction nowadays), also with a hint of doom, to come out within the past decade. So far they've released two albums, Prologue and Inside The Difference Engine, but honestly both releases are pretty dull.

Awesome Website: StonerRock.comp

So I was looking for some bands info (bands I had hear on Last.fm, and wanted to see their release history) and I came upon (once of many times) StonerRock.com. Well if you haven't heard, this website is a great resource to anyone who loves stoner/doom/sludge metal. Something for any true fan to frequent.

Well because StonerRock.com doesn't have a search function (at least one that I can find), I googled some more, coming upon StonerRock.comp (officially at StonerRock.org). This .comp version of StonerRock is a website dedicated to the hosting of a compilation of unsigned stoner bands that frequent the site's forum. There are 9 volumes (so far), some are one disc some are two, but it is all stoner. I assume that at the time of the various compilations, the bands debuted were unsigned, but as I downloaded it all I recognized some names. Whether this means the band has gotten more exposed, or that my knowledge is far-reaching, I don't know. What I do know is that I now have over 100 tracks from a wide array of artists to enjoy.

Anyone who wants to hear some truly underground metal, check out StonerRock.comp for 9 volumes of stoney-goodness.

Albums Listened To In April (92)

April is over....finally. A new month means a new position at work and the ever closer date of me moving across town. Looking forward to all that (which is sad that's all I have to look forward to in life).

Anyway onto the music.

Started the month with a lot of older music re-listened. Moving towards classic rock/NWOBHM by the end. A nice variety throughout. But with that heavy influence of music I've already heard, this comparison of the good, bad and the dull will be pretty short. I'm sure there are some people who view that very positively, and for all those people... eat me.

Video: Judas Priest "Breaking The Law"

Well right now I am finishing up the Iron Maiden discography and moving into Judas Priest's, and so I figured what better way to mark this transition then with a video?
This is "Breaking The Law" off of Priest's best album (regarded by many), British Steel. I grew up listening to this album, and as such, I know every song very well.

So here it is, one of the best songs, off of one of the best albums to come from the heavy metal/NWOBHM gods - Judas Priest.

New Band: Droids Attack

Droids Attack is a stoner rock/metal group that I recently discovered. What enticed me to the group (and moved them to the head of my listening schedule) was the name ans album art. In my mind the robot revolution is a sure thing that we march towards day after day, so a group named such pops out to my eye.

I went through the bands discography - three albums - in two days, and I have varying views of the band, depending on which album is playing. Their first album, All Your Chicks Are Belong to Us, is a sonic blend between Clutch and Beaver. As some of you may know, Clutch is my favorite band, and I really don't like Beaver, so this was a confusing album. A couple of songs were decent, but there was too much hectic guitar work and growled vocals for my taste. If I had not already acquired the other two releases from the band, I might have stopped here. But I struggled on.

Favorite Albums: Blood Ceremony - Blood Ceremony

When I first listened to Blood Ceremony's self-titled release I knew I had something special. I had a friend over so I couldn't give it the full listen it deserved, but from the bits I heard I was very impressed. The group seemed to blend doom and progressive genres with some folkish elements with the instruments used. And the vocals, being as haunting as they were, could have been either female or male, it was hard to say. After my friend left, I made a note to listen to this whole album again, a note that got mixed in with the dozens of other notes I had/have about listening to different bands and albums. So this week I finally got to it.

Current Trend: Celtic Folk

Beginning on St. Patrick's Day (complete coincidence) I began getting heavily into Celtic Punk/Rock. Something about the time of year, and the style of music, spoke to my heritage, and pulled at my heart-strings. Bands like The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, and Flogging Molly all embody the (relativity) more mainstream of this genre, and all do it fairly well. But I was into more underground music, Jackdaw (which was pretty damn good), The Tossers, The Real McKenzies, Skids, Seven Nations, Young Dubliners, and Fiddler's Green (although they're... German?), put out more traditional sounds - less punk more folk - to much success.

Peter Steele Dead at 48

I woke up this morning to an email from a friend telling me Peter Steele, of the goth/doom metal band Type O Negative, was dead. I did not believe it until I googled it and saw the numerous news articles confirming the fact. This is a sad day for those who reside in the land of Metaldom. I love Type O Negative, both their albums and their live shows. I was really hoping to catch them live again, but now without the booming voice of Steele, there is really little point.

Video: Elton John "Oven Manual Improvisation"

Here's a stupid little video I found, but it made me laugh.
Elton John is on some sort of talkshow, and a member of the audience challenges him to create a song out of a manual for his new oven that he happened to bring.
It's a quick, silly video, but it does show off the mans ability to play.

Albums Listened To In March (97)

Sorry this has been delayed, I've been pulling 60+ hours as work every week and as such, when I get home all I want to do is relax. But today is my day off so I plan on getting caught up and writing some more posts. Several updates to be had in the near future.

Standouts
Artimus Pyledriver plays what seems to be AC/DC-inspired music with a southern twang to it. I was pleasantly surprised. Cloudkicker's EP, ]]][[[ (how do you pronounce that?) was something new, it's all instrumental, but it was an interesting beginning for a new band. I really liked a few songs from Giant Squid's second album, The Ichthyologist, quite a bit. Another band with a new sound, wouldn't mind hearing more.

Video: Iron Maiden "Run To The Hills"

Been listening to a lot of classic NWOBHM lately - most notably Iron Maiden. This is the music video for their best single (so say the charts), "Run To The Hills," off their best album (in my mind), The Number Of The Beast.

Current Trend: May To March

A long time ago, I was putting out a monthly article about what style was making up the majority of what I was listening to. During my shitty summer, I fell off that wagon, and I think it's time to get back with it. This one will be a short re-hashing of the past nine months, to get us back to the current age. Nothing too in-depth or long, just an overview:

Ok, so the trends I have been going through have been back-and-forth between Funk and Stoner, with the occasional Progressive strewn in. I have really been sticking with these three genres for the majority of the past year. Parliament, Funkadelic and Sly and The Family Stone are some of the best music from the 70's I've had the pleasure to bear witness.

Retrospective: Type O Negative (Part 1)

While Peter Steele's first band, Carnivore, was mostly thrash, and later ToN releases are mostly doom, these first couple of albums blend the two to become the center of the sub-sub(sub?)-genre: sludge metal. Sludge metal is characterized by having slow verses or other passages but having thrash-infused choruses or breaks. Basically it's two extremes being mashed together, to varying success


Discography - Part 1

• Slow, Deep And Hard (1991)

Coming off as more of a collection of Carnivore tracks with a new band, Slow, Deep And Hard is something else. While some elements from this album will be apparent in later releases (especially the humor), other then the next release, The Origin Of The Feces, this has very little of the sound that would become Type O Negative in future releases. One thing I love about this album are the track titles, they are so unnecessarily long and actually pretty funny. The opening track is titled "Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity," which all about a woman who cheats (gets pretty vulgar towards the end), and the equally impressive titled "The Misinterpretation Of Silence And Its Disastrous Consequences" which is nothing more then a minute of silence - that is it, silence and it gets a huge title. While the titles thing is funny, this album is pretty crap overall, the only good track off of it being its first, "Unsuccessfully Coping..." which is over twelve minutes long. This track fully embodies the sludge title, with the beginning seeming like a thrash song, some long droning bits, more thrash, and then just straight metal chanting. It is a funny song, filled with interesting lyrics, although it does get very vulgar at the end, while he describes what she is for being a cheater (alot of four-letter words). Other then track one, this is a throw-away album, not thrash enough for Carnivore, not doom enough to be truly Type O Negative.

Retrospective: Queen - Queen II (1974)

I know this has been a long time coming, but here it is, part 2 of the Queen retrospective.

While Queen II continues the progressive sound heard in their debut album, it also is a step towards the main-stream stadium-rock that they would become world renown for.Now I have listened to this album a lot less often then the first Queen album, and as such, I am not as familiar with the tracks. With the first part of the retrospective I wrote, I could complete the entire article without listening to a single song (except "Son and Daughter") and still pull off a decent description. For this one, I will need to work through every song, which is why I have taken forever to continue this project.

New Album: Airbourne - No Guts. No Glory.

I don't know what it is about Airbourne, but I love them. Their songs are simple, both in music and lyrics, most of it sounds the same, and the guy can't 'sing' worth a crap. But they wail! If this was the 80's these guys would be huge. They play a stadium-rock reminiscent of AC/DC or Kiss - simple sing-a-long lyrics for the working man. Their songs are about girls, fighting and booze, stuff you can stand behind. Their second release, No Guts. No Glory. follows suit.
There isn't a lot to say about this album that wasn't said above, like their first release, Runnin' Wild, songs are short and sweet, with a focus on the chorus and the guitar solos behind the lyrics. Reading this you'd think they were some cookie-cutter group, and if this was 1985 that might be the case, but it's 2010 and stadium-rock is in short supply, so Airbourne has found their niche. Listening to any of their albums, you can't help but bob your head along, and by the end of any song, odds are you've already memorized half of the lyrics (if you can understand what the singer is saying that is).
So I guess what I'm saying is, if you love the golden-era of Brian Johnson AC/DC (Back In Black era) they you will love Airbourne. And for anyone from my generation, who didn't grow up with this style (well I did, but not everyone has a father that blasts Bon Scott while driving his son to school), this is something new for you to sink your teeth into.

Awesome Album Art: Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

Album art is a fading... well art, in today's society of mp3s and digital downloads. But to me, a band is only good as it's name and it's album art. While perusing random albums, whether online or at an actual music store, what the album looks like often denotes how much time I'm going to hesitate at an unknown artist. And in today's thousands-of-bands world, a hesitation is what you want. And so for this I will give credence to whomever is out there designing art-work, beginning with Giant Squid's latest release The Ichthyologist.

Albums Listened To In February (83)

February, the shortest month. Unlike last year, when Feb held the most albums I'd listened to yet, this one is not so musically dominating. It's still a stellar month, with 83 albums (52 brand new) played - two better then last month - I hope to keep this trend alive. The number would have been more, but I began watching the complete series of the HBO show, Entourage, this week, and have done little else. I was hoping to get to 100 albums, but TV took it's hold over me. I still have 2 1/2 seasons left, and then it's onto the other HBO series, Oz, so next month might be a bit slow as well. Time will only tell.

I started the month with a hunt for the new, week 1 was almost entirely new bands - aside from the Led Zeppelin discography - and week 2 followed suit. Towards the end of the second week I had begun new discographies (Rush, Van Halen, Sum 41), which began to dominate my car listening selection. The trend of Van Halen/Rush continued into week 4, when I became bored with them both, instead moving back into funk, with Funkadelic taking the reins. This will probably continue, at least through the first week or two, into March.

2009 In Review

Ok so it took me over 2 months to write this, and in all actuality I didn't write crap. I made this list to white about each catagory, but then I realized I just didn't care. So now I'm sick of this staring up at me every time I sign into Blogger, so here it is: 2009 In Review.

682 Total Albums Played

One surprise was my favorite band Clutch; they gathered only four full album plays all year and two of those were brand new albums. I really expected this to be more.

Some Good Progressive Rock: Rush And Kansas

This past month, I've been listening to the entire Rush discography (8 out of 19 complete at the time of this writing), and I just now finished the first Kansas album, and I have to say; I really like this 70's progressive rock sound that these guys put out. A lot of people know of Rush and their prog music (2112 anyone?), but not a lot of people know more from Kansas then "Carry On Wayward Son," "Dust In The Wind," or "Point Of Know Return" (including myself).

After listening to their self-titled (and heading into their second, Masque) release I have an added respect for this group. They stick to the semi-mainstream venue of prog, not being of the King Crimson-style of pretentiousness. They mix the straight-forward focus of classic (read: 70's) rock with the interesting instrumentation, song structure and lyrical content of other progressive bands. Half of their songs are short and seemingly radio friendly, and the others are longer (over seven minutes) story-arch songs of varying subjects. Kind of a neat blend.
Rush does this too, but to a less successful extent. For this article I am only using the 70's/early 80's music of Rush (aka classic Rush), but they continuously fall into the same rut of trying to be more 'epic' then what is needed. Now I love Rush, and I really don't want to say anything negative about them, but after listening to almost all of their 'good' albums, their music is just better when they focus more on the rock style and less on the progressive element. Starting with their third album, Caress Of Steel (and soon after the addition of Niel Peart), their music becomes skewed into the inaccessible forms of prog music. The songs are long, to a ridiculous extent, and the lyrics are quite silly at times - but the music still rocks, so I have no complaint there. It's just that each album only has two or three decent songs to its credit, and two or three ten-plus minute epic pieces that fall flat after the first five minutes. 2112 is the exception, and I think they took the awesomeness of that song, and tried to re-create it with each following disc; as noted with "Cygnus X-1" and "Cygnus X-1 Book II" on the following albums, A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres.
As the group enters the 80's the super long songs wain away, but so too does the rock aspect. Instead the group focuses on different styles and sounds, to keep up with the ever-changing soundscape we live in. And I have no fault with that, you have to do what you do to survive. If they were still putting out the same style of records as their debut album, this article would have a very different spin to it, mostly about how boring the band has begun (and that article probably would have never been made). So I guess a congrats are in order for the guys from Rush, for still being together and still putting out decent albums (not the same, but still decent), for all these years.

Again, I am only two Kansas albums in, and I know the group takes a major nose dive somewhere in the 80's as far as quality is concerned, but in the golden days, they have a better grasp on understandable progressive rock then the Canadian kings of prog: Rush. So go out and give Kansas a try, you'll probably be surprised at how much you like their sound.

Video: Goblin Cock "We've Got A Bleeder"

Goblin Cock is another funny band, both in name and in song lyrics. And I also never have a clue what goes on within their music videos. "We've Got A Bleeder" is no exception to this. I just listened to the album that this song is off of, Come With Me If You Want To Live, and I heard their debut release, Bagged And Boarded, last week.
The second album is a lot more straight-forward and serious then the first - I mean in the actual musicality of the album, not the band itself. The music is much more stoner then the droning sound of the predecessor, and the tunes just rock more. I really like the direction this band is taking, and they are another new addition within the stoner collection on my hard drive.

Albums Listened To In January (81)

The New Year: what does it bring? Only an awesome collection of new bands and albums. As you will see below, I started off January continuing the December path of just listening to classic rock and full discographies, but at the end (actually the very last day) of week 2 I moved into the new bands like Wiht and Wo Fat. The next few weeks (it continues even now) were filled with new stoner/doom bands, spliced in with the older acts I listen to on my drive to work every day.

The way I listen to music has evolved: while at home I focus on new albums and artists, with the occasional classic album/band thrown in, and on my 40+ min drive to and from work every day I listen to entire discographies of artists I've already heard. This is how I listened to so much Deep Purple and Uriah Heep (both bands are amazing in their early works), as well as the more modern Tyr, Bigelf and Shinedown.
This way of listening has opened up a good dichotomy between the new and the old. And it continues today.

Also 81 is an impressive number, as compared to last month and overall. I wish there was some way to add a bar graph to one side of this blog that I could update monthly. Does anyone know of a way to do that?

Video: Karma To Burn "Twenty"

Karma To Burn is a stoner instrumental band who do pretty well for themselves. They are one of the better known of the music-only acts (at least as far as I know).
This music video is simple and kinda neat - a catchy idea if there ever was one: women as guitars. I like it.

New Band: Beehoover

If System of A Down would chill out a bit - but still keep their wacky music and lyrics - you'd have Beehoover. The vocalist has a similar sound to Serj Tankian, and although I can't understand all the lyrics very well, the bits I can are pretty out there. Their music falls well within the stoner metal sound, but incorporates a slight progressive element as well; lots of changes of tempos and sounds cut into each other. This band is something very interesting.

New Band: Witch

I've been listening to a lot of new music within the past week, all found by my new favorite site for stoner/doom metal StonerRobixxx, a frequently-posted site in which I have discovered at least thirty-six stoner, doom and psychedelic bands within the past week. I now have the daunting task of going through it all, and separate the good from the crap and then the great from the good. I'm through my second band...wow this is going to take forever.

I am currently listening to the end of the self-titled Witch album, and I (for some reason) already listened to their sophomore effort, Paralyzed, earlier in the day. Witch combines the stoner/doom/sludge sound with a drudging guitar and a collection of eerie vocals. Although the voice is masculine (maybe), I can believe that this is a witch croneing on, casting spells and the like.

Albums Listened To In December (59)

59 albums. Not bad compared to my average, but not up to par as the past couple of months. Sorry this took so long, I've been having a rough time at work, and I'm often to tired when I get home to do anything mentally challenging (been playing a lot of Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox).
I set out this month to listen to full discographies of my favorite bands, and I did just that. Blind Guardian, Dream Theater, Manowar, Iced Earth, Type O Negative, Ayreon, Demons and Wizards and Kiuas were all set up and knocked down with relative ease. Due to this trip down music-memory lane, there was almost no new albums this month, the only exception being Blind Guardian's A Night At The Opera which I had never had the enjoyment of hearing before. And for most of the bands above, I am working on a Retrospective for each. You have already seen my one for Blind Guardian, and I'm almost done with Type O Negative, Iced Earth and Dream Theater's, I just have to take the time and sit down and actually do it.

In January I wanted to focus almost entirely on brand new music, but seeing as the month is already half over by the time I've finished this article, I already know the semi-trend, and right now it's a decent split of new and old.
I found a new place to find new bands, the majority of which are well within my musical preference - a lot of stoner and doom - so be expecting a whole list of out-there bands with unique sounds and songs.

With me being done with school, I have a lot less of a reason to sit in front of my computer listening to music all day. So my numbers will most likely be taking a hit - at least in the near future. With nothing but work to look forward too, I'm going to be needing a hobby, and this site may just be it.

Retrospective: Blind Guardian (Part 2)

Continuing the discography breakdown of the thrash/power metal band Blind Guardian:

 

Discography - Part 2

• Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)

Somewhere Far Beyond is Blind Guardian's first album that sounds (to me) as a 'Blind Guardian album.' Continuing with the blending of genres that was seen in Tales From The Twilight World, this album is a seamless collection of thrash-influenced power metal. The operatic elements are present, as well as a slight progressive feel within a handful of songs. This album is also the first Blind Guardian album to host an acoustic, 'campfire song,' a song that one could see being sung for generations; "The Bard's Song (In The Forest)." There is a second part, "The Bard's Song (The Hobbit)," but this song incorporates drums and electric guitars. It still is the dame basic tune and rhythm, but the sound is drastically different. On the special edition album there are two covers added to the track listing, "Trial By Fire" by Satan, and "Spread Your Wings" by Queen. While "Trial By Fire" is forgettable, "Spread Your Wings" is one of my favorite covers; once again Blind Guardian show us their love of Queen, and pull off a fitting tribute. This album embodies what I like about Blind Guardian, and while the previous works are decent, I feel that this is where the band grew into something to be reckoned with. The later works only get better.

Retrospective: Blind Guardian (Part 1)

Starting with their first release, Blind Guardian is a power-influenced thrash metal band, with alot more straight drum and guitar then the melodic, multi-layered sound that the group would be known for. Later albums move more into the power metal sound, but almost all of their albums still hold onto their origins of thrash - which is great if you have been listening to them from the beginning, but if you came in half-way (like myself) the further back you go, the less and less the band sounds like the band you love.
But aside from that, Blind Guardian is one of my favorite bands within the power metal genre. Their combination of speed, melody and epic vocals (especially in the later albums) are something of legend. Hansi Kürsch, the lead singer, has one of the most amazing voices in all of metal. His vocal range and ability to sing harsh and operatic within seconds of each other are truly amazing. This band is worth it, just to hear his voice and style.

Favorite Albums: Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes

Continuing with my trend of listening to my foundation of my metal tastes, I'm going to look at the partner (in my mind) to Blind Guardian's Nightfall In Middle Earth, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Iced Earth; seen this way because I bought them both at the same time, around five years ago.

Now I've already gone into this album a bit, with my comparison of the two spin-off albums, the Something Wicked Series, but that was only a basic look at the last three songs, that make up the original 'Something Wicked' story. In this, I'll go more in-depth about the entire album.
First, the album is broken into two parts, the first ten tracks make up the 'album proper,' the stand alone songs, with no story throughout them, just random songs. The second part is the Birth Of The Wicked series, and that begins on track 11 and goes to the end of the album (track 13). I'll go into each separately.
The first few tracks are my favorites on the album, they are all good but some are better. Most of the songs touch on some ulterior motive, either by damning someone or group within the song ("Disciples Of The Lie" and "Melancholy (Holy Martyr)"), or are very heart-throbbing ("Watching Over Me" and "Blessed Are You"). All of the songs are very heavy and a great blend of Jon Schaffer's superb guitar and lyrical writing and Matthew Barlow's (the 'voice' of Iced Earth) amazing vocals.

Video: The Muppets

Ok not metal, not rock(well one is), but it is music and it had me laughing. Here is a collection of some new Muppet shorts that started popping up online a few weeks ago, all Muppet versions of famous songs. It's mostly classical, but they do cover Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and that song is epic.
So please enjoy The Muppets:

More after the break.

Favorite Albums: Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle Earth

This month I've been revisiting the bands that got me into metal - both originally and my current tastes. I've been listening to alot of Manowar, and Type O Negative, and I'm now getting into Iced Earth and Blind Guardian. While I grew up with Manowar, Type O Negative, Iron Maiden and Metallica (thank you Dad), both Blind Guardian and Iced Earth are fairly recent additions to my musical tastes, only discovering them about four years ago, shortly after my joining of Last.fm and my discovery of this wonderful thing called 'power metal.' One thing I have noticed over my illustrious music career, is that more often then not the first album I hear by a band becomes my favorite. Manowar's The Triumph Of Steel, Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses, and Iron Maiden's Best of The Beast (greatest hits) all fall into this category. As do Iced Earth's Something Wicked This Way Comes (which will probably become it's own article eventually) and Blind Guardian's Nightfall In Middle Earth.

Retrospective: Queen - Queen (1973)

**Because of the awesomeness of the Queen collection (at least the first half of the discography), I'm going to be breaking the band's releases down in manageable segments**

The first release by the band that would eventually define arena-rock, Queen (the album) is straight progressive rock, with hints of Christianity strewn throughout, just a little more accessible then some of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's releases, they keep it in the realm of understandable.
These first few releases (Queen, Queen II) had almost no fanfare, truly very few people even know they exist, especially within my generation, but they are some of the best of the band's releases. The blending of progressive elements and the eventual operatic vocal style and arena-rock that was to come, make for a vividly unique and memorable experience. If given the option, please give these early attempts a try.

Video: ED's Furry Fucking Guide To Metal!!!! (Take 2)

So this was one of my first posts, but Youtube took it down, so instead of just updating the original post, I decided to re-post the whole thing for the newer viewers of my site (which is everyone). So everyone sit back and enjoy, one of the most clear-cut explanations of metal ever offered


ED's Furry Fucking Guide To Metal!!! - Awesome video clips here

Albums Listened To In November

Damn November was a good month! My birthday, three months at the new job, a few lady-friends, a new writer for The Guide, some good shit.
Another month of near-record numbers - 94 albums total, 35 new! I spent alot of time re-listening to good bands, albums and complete genres. You'll notice a heavy stoner resurgence, as I decided to listen to every stoner album that I have listened to in the recent months (that I liked anyway). Bands like sHEAVY, The Atomic Bitchwax, Fireball Ministry, Five Horse Johnson, and Hermano, Monster Magnet, all had their entire discographies listened through again - all stoner.

Retrospective: Avantasia (Part 2)

Continuing from the last installment of the Avantasia Retrospective:

• Lost In Space: Part 1 EP and Part 2 EP (2007)

Lost In Space are another pair of releases in close succession by the band Avantasia. These two are not as closely-entwined as The Metal Opera was. They are collections of new songs to be released on the upcoming (at the time) album, The Scarecrow, cover songs, and some variations of songs previously released. Most of the covers are pretty good, with the ABBA and Freddie Mercury songs taking the limelight, but again as will most singles and EPs, you should wait for the full-length album to hear most of these songs. One peculiar detail is that both EPs contain the exact same title track - no variation on recording or length, the exact same song. This to me seems like a bit of a cop-out/spit in the face to anyone willing to purchase these two EPs. But seeing as I didn't, I can't really complain. If you're a mega-fan of Avantasia then go pick up these EPs, the variations in songs and the covers make it worth it. If you're not a Avantasia-head then just stick with acquiring the covers, and wait to get The Scarecrow.

Video: Cannibal Corpse Lounge Cover

 Just some stupid video I found online. I dislike death meal over all and really don't like Cannibal Corpse, but this guy does a pretty funny 'Lounge' style version of one of their songs.


Part 2 of Avantasia coming soon.

Retrospective: Avantasia (Part 1)

I was scrolling through my music library last week (over 35,000 songs and counting) looking for something I've heard before but not in a long time and I stumbled upon Avantasia. About two years ago I whipped my hard drive clean and had to re-upload all of my music (from my external) which reset all of the song listen counters. From that time I have not listened to any Avantasia except their newest release, The Scarecrow. I decided to rectify this situation and gave the entire discography a listen.

The interesting thing about Avantasia is that there is only one real member of the band, Tobias Sammet, who plays various instruments and the majority of the vocals for all the releases. This requires Avantasia to have an ever-revolving cast of players, with upwards of more than ten vocalists for each album, with several different session instrumentalists - often times not for more than one song. It gives the group a very unique feel and tendency into the unknown.

One problem I have with this group, which is a problem I have with almost all the 'Project Bands' (bands with no real set cast or crew) is that every album is significantly different than the one before it. Sometimes this works, The Metal Operas are pretty damn good, and sometimes this doesn't, The next full-length release, The Scarecrow, sounds like a completely different band, it all is seemingly random.

Liquid Trio Experiment 2 - Universal Mind (When the Keyboard Breaks)

First off I need to make a clarification about the band.  When the album was released, it was released under the title of Liquid Trio Experiment 2.  But it is just Liquid Tension Experiment with the absence of Jordan Rudess.  His Roland keyboard decided to crap out in the beginning of the first song.  Every 4th key would play the note a half step higher.  This is clearly evident in the very first song within the first 5 seconds of hearing the track.  I can only imagine what the band's faces looked like onstage when they heard what they heard.  I know when I listened to it the first time, I wasn't really expecting it and I'm sure I had a "WTF am I hearing" kind of face.

Scorpions - Moment of Glory

Another retrospective review within my favorite genre, Orchestral Rock.

(The) Scorpions, formed in Germany known for their singles such as Rock You Like a Hurricane and No One Like You.  For this album they come together with the legendary Berlin Philharmonic to give you a pretty decent album.

One thing you may notice is that they might sound a little out of tune compared to other bands/orchestras.  In Europe, they tune slightly higher than their counterparts across the big lake.

Metallica - S&M

I have to preface this post with that while I am not a die-hard Metallica fan, I do thoroughly enjoy their music.  Having never actually bought one of their albums (I got most of them from The Klepto) and a one or two from another friend, I have to say I was overall very satisfied with their music.  I listened to St. Anger (the song) and was never motivated to listen to that album, and from the looks of things I'm glad I didn't.  Though they did make a comeback with Death Magnetic, as you will find in a previous post.

However I would like to focus on their live album S&M.  S&M stands for Symphony and Metallica.  The San Fransico Symphony, conducted by the late Michael Kamen, lends their sound to Hetfield and pals.  The result, and I quote from Battery, is a "powerhouse of energy".

New Genre Added - Orchestral Rock

I wanted to familiarize the readers of this blog with a Genre that hasn't been previously established on this site.  Orchestral Rock.  Basically it is a rock band with an orchestra behind it.

Some artists that have done this include but not limited to:

Metallica
Scorpions
Elton John
Kiss
Dimmu Borgir

I have reviewed Metallica's "S&"M and Scorpions' "Moment of Glory".  Hopefully I will be able to review Kiss's album specifically, and any other I come across in this genre.  If you know of any that I have missed or have any suggestions, please feel free to comment.

-The Pyro