Im Back...with A Review!!!!

I know its been for-freakin-ever since I posted a new blog but I have been so bogged down with school that I haven't had much of a chance to update. But things are calmer and I'm back with a review.

I know I'm about 2 years late on this album but I only just recently came into this band and I'm obsessed: Ghost Machine. Ghost Machine is a 5 piece industrial metal band fronted by Ivan Moody (Of Motograter and Five Finger Death Punch fame). The album I'm stuck on is their second release Hypersensitive. As far as metal albums go this one has it all, its catchy, slow and melodic in some areas and pounding in the next. This is one of those albums that will never get the recognition it deserves. Songs like Desert Rose and Bondage are beautiful. Bondage has some amazing guitar work. This album also gets you in a fighting mood. The tracks What You Made Me-Ugli and Skank just put me in the mood to go out and pick a fight. In my opinion the best track on the album has to be Headstone. The only negative thing I can say about it is that it starts off sounding like a Slipknot song, but everything after that is just amazing. The lyrics have moments of Poe-esqu sounds ("Your silhouette Up on the mantle Your Sadist smile Painted on my lips Your pale flesh And your heartbeat" haunting images) and the chorus id catchy as all get out. Ivan's "ohs!" at the end of each line in the chorus will have you singing along in no time.

If your a fan of the Bands Motograter, Five Finger Death Punch and Clay People this album is a no brainer purchase. If your just looking for a solid industrial album Hypersensitive is a good place to start.

Sad...

I am massively upset. Ive never been one to get tore up when a band changes its line up but I finally found one that pushes me over the edge. Shiny Toy Guns have replaced Carah Faye Charnow, the lady with the golden voice that brought us the hit Le Disko with a Pussycat Dolls reject: Sisely Treasure. Normally this wouldn't phase me much but she is just such a departure from Charnow's vocal style. That coupled with the more organic sound the band is going with really just depresses me. Don't get me wrong, the stuff that Gregori Petree sings on their new album (Season of Poison) is amazing but every time I hear Treasure sing my skin crawls and I miss Carah all the more. If your a hardcore Shiny Toy Guns fan go on and get the new album but if this is the first time you've ever heard of them please go out and buy We Are Pilots (Vol. 3) and stick with that...I'm gonna go listen to Rainy Monday and more for a while.

Oasis is back!

That's right, the infamous brit-rock band is releasing their first record of new material since Heathen Chemistry back in 2002. Their new release is called Dig Out Your Soul and its quite a departure from the "Wonderwall" Oasis we've all come to expect. Oasis claims that this is going to be a huge album with some pretty heave tracks. Every member of Oasis had a major contributing part in the album composition which is something not all bands can say. In promotion of the upcoming album Oasis is now on a 18 month world tour and they also handed out sheet music to street bands. That's right weeks before the album hit shelves Oasis handed out copies of their new songs for bands to learn and busk them on the street. Personally I'm a huge Oasis fan and cant wait for the new album to drop which thankfully is tomorrow. So go listen to wonderwall and champagne supernova one more time and prepare to look at Oasis in a whole new light.

The band that doesn't exist...

They have never played a show, never met...in fact they have never even spoken over the phone. Stabilizer is definitely not your normal band. In addition to never having direct communication the band doesn't believe in selling their music. That's right, you can download all of Stabilizer's music for free...In fact they encourage it. They WANT you to bootleg their music. Speaking of music; I'm sure quite a few of you are wondering if this band is any good at all. Well let me say this, if you cant find something you like on their two albums then you obviously don't know squat about music. They cover the gamete of music from ballads and rap beats to techno breaks and grind core, This band does it all. Well guys, don't just take my word for it go check them out. Here is the link to download their two albums. Check them out your self and let me know what you think.


http://www.nonexistentrecordings.com/?page_id=19

A.D.D.

I just tracked down a copy of the compilation album "Short Music for Short People" and in keeping with the spirit of the album here is my review:




It's Good

My Balloon Poped....

I know the past few weeks Ive been ranting about how the music industry suck and blah blah blah...So I think its time for a happier post. Ive found myself addicted to a band as of late (They're all I can listen to while walking to my classes). I'm talking about the trio Children 18:3. Children 18:3 is a Christian punk band whose members look like they got back from a rock-cliche costume party. Their singer is a throw back to old school horror punk, their bassist looks like shes stuck in the 80s and the drummer would fit in well with the hard core scene. But music isn't about looks right? (If you answered wrong to that you need to leave my blog now). This music doesn't disappoint in any way shape or form. Their S.T.A. kicks off with the song "All My Balloons" and to be honest there isn't a better track to start off with. It kicks right in and has you singing along by the end of the first chorus (Even if you don't know the words). The album flat out rocks but for the sake of the fact that I'm tired I'm only going to point out milestone tracks (Since the whole album is amazing). "Homemade Valentine" is one of the catchiest songs Ive ever come across. Catchy guitar work, a chant break down, and some of the best vocals on the album. I Only have one complaint about this song: Its way to short. It only lasts a two and a half minutes. "Samantha" is an amazing interlude into the track "Mock the Music" The chorus goes "It's alright it's a stereotype And I don't mind if you use it It's alright you can say what you like Just don't mock the music " And believe that I'm going to adopt that as this blogs motto. And my personal favorite moment on the album right before the last track "All My Balloons" reprises out of nowhere. Over all this is an amazing album with very few if any week points. I highly recommend it for any hard rock or punk fans.

You've got a friend in me?

Like I said last week, "Radio Friendly" is a term I use a lot. And If you ask any one who knows me well I'm not a fan of any thing that's radio friendly. Now, I'm not talking about songs edited for radio; I really don;t care if the songs edited or not. I'm talking about songs that are structured to be played on the radio. There is a specific formula that an artist can follow to be insured that they can be played on radio. Its simple really; All you need is a song that
runs close to 3:11 in length and has a structure similar to this- [Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, (Optional break and a chorus refrain), Outro] Why do songs set up like this do so well? To be honest with you I don't really know. And this structure idea has been around for quite a while. Have you ever wondered why some of the Beatles' older songs are so short? Its because they knew that they were playing to an audience of radio listeners who had short attention spans. I'm I saying that all songs that follow this "radio friendly" song structure are bad? No. But I am saying that if artist focus solely on creating radio songs then other tracks not bound to be singles will suffer during the creative process. This all relates back to last weeks blog post. If we focus only on one aspect of music then record labels will start having their bands focus on that aspect. If all we want are short poppy tunes then that's what they will give us.

Lets Get Started

All right guys this is my first blog so we'll see how this goes. My intention is to focus mainly on music and things in the music world but never rule out the possibility of me going off on some random rant. I'm always open to talk to my readers, take suggestions from them or argue a point. As long as your legitimately arguing a point in a respectful manor I'll nearly always rebuttal. I'm going to try and update at least once a week with something (But with a hectic college schedule that is subject to change). Well that's about it for now, I hope you guys will enjoy this blog and its (future) content. Peace!

iTunes may kill the Album?

All right, this is the first post with content so lets make it good.



Where is the music world going? This is a question the I dwell on a lot. And thanks to iTunes I have a pretty good guess. As Far as I'm concerned the idea of bands recording full albums will soon be a novel idea. Have you ever scrolled through one of your favorite bands pages on iTunes and noticed that one of their songs is massively popular while the other tracks on the album have received next to no attention? I have and I hate it. Albums were meant to be listened to as a unit. Artists go out of their way to pick songs that fit the album and they organize them in a specific way to maximize you listening experience. And what do we do...we go buy one song. Don't get me wrong; I know that certain restrictions (Like money and hardrive space) prohibit people from getting full albums but if all you ever do is buy one song what message does that send? After a while record companies are going to pick up on this trend and start requesting that bands simply record two or three "Radio Friendly" songs (Radio Friendly is one of my favorite terms to use and I use it A LOT...And I think I found the subject for next weeks post). These radio friendly songs will all be released as singles so they receive significant radio play, they're used in adds, found in movies and their iTunes sales will be through the roof. Some people reading this probably donut see a problem with this so let me point it out. If bands are only recording a few songs at a time what will happen to albums? If all your record company wants from you is a few songs for radio that prohibits your composing. So instead of the 7 minute Magnum opus you write a 3 minute pop wonder.



Now, please bear in mind that I love when bands become popular and people listen to them but at what cost. I'm not saying that the loss of albums is the definitive future of music but it is one of the possibilities. Please help keep records coming buy downloading full albums or even better go out and buy a hard copy!