NB: All the views here are all one person’s opinion. I don’t speak for a majority, only myself. These are just a few albums and in no particular order, apart from the first.
Far Q by Lower Than Atlantis – This album is perfect. It’s hard to actually describe it in detail. It’s one of those “you have to listen to the album to actually understand why it’s so good”. One of the songs is simply about all your songs being deleted and being able to get none of it back..even with things this simple, music shouldn’t sound this good.
Diamond Eyes by Deftones – Nobody was quite sure what to expect when this was coming out. Chi Cheng had been hospitalised for a while and they had put a hold on all the songs they had been recording with him. This is Deftones on top form, a stunning album from a stunning band.
Eyes & Nines by Trash Talk – The album is 17 minutes of agressive hardcore. It’s over before it’s begun, but it’s great to release anger to. It’s propelled Trash Talk in to the limelight and from here on out, they’ll only get bigger.
Out Of Our Minds by Melissa Auf der Maur – Solo projects can always go one way or the other but this album is a perfect chill out record from the former Hole bassist. Chilling in some places, but amazing nonetheless.
Enemy Of The World by Four Year Strong – A perfect record mixing hardcore with pop punk. The songs are catchy and it’s hard not to end up singing and shouting along all the way through. Songs like It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now show what they’re capable of. A step up from everything they’ve done (not to say the previous albums weren’t amazing either!)
Option Paralysis by The Dillinger Escape Plan – Mathcore kings don’t disappointment. A storming, fast paced record which tops their previous release (Ire Works), Greg’s vocals on fine form and the guitar work is phenomonal.
Rock & Roll EP by Frank Turner – Ok, it’s an EP but who cares?! 5 tracks of folk-punk for your mind and ears to indulge in and blissfully enjoy!
Other fantastic albums: American Slang by The Gaslight Anthem, Danger Days by My Chemical Romance, This Addiction by Alkaline Trio, White Crosses by Against Me!, The Dissent Of Man by Bad Religion, The Upsides by The Wonder Years, The Final Frontier by Iron Maiden, Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones by Cancer Bats, There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret. by Bring Me The Horizon, Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold, Audio Secrecy by Stone Sour.
TIPS FOR 2011
After a succesful year with Far Q, the ever growing Lower Than Atlantis are ones to look out for..
..and so are their tour buddies TRC who are currently working on a new album! Supporting Gallows and touring extensively with Lower Than Atlantis has earned them an expanding fanbase and with their latest release “The Revolution Continues EP” under their belts, TRC are unstoppable.
As always, Final Round… FIGHT!, should be continued to look in to..playing a couple of shows with The Smoking Hearts in the new year should help them earn some new fans.
With a tour in the new year with Reel Big Fish, The Skints will continue to dominate the ska-punk scene in the UK!
Folk duo, Heathers, will be one to keep a check on.
After touring with rock titans, KISS, Taking Dawn will be on to keep a close eye on as they take to the UK next month.
The Wonder Years, who are playing the 2011 Kerrang! tour, will earn some new fans when they hit to the stages in February.
With new material, ska kings of Tooting, Mouthwash will be making a lot of noise in 2011.
Other mentions: Moral Dilemma, Random Hand, Me Vs. Hero, Jettblack.
Not alot of it if we can all be honest. Not alot at all. How many bands have something to say? I’m not so much talking about good music although good music does speak to people in a certain manner in which they can enjoy and feel good..escape, mosh, skank, go mad and forget about everything.
I understand that can be said for any genre of music or song or band or artist or whoever. Playing it, listening to it etc etc. It seems nowadays anyone can pick up a guitar, strum a few chords and have their 15 minutes of fame. Look at your iTunes. How many of those bands will still be making music in 10 years? The sad thing is, they may not even be bad bands or make bad music, but bands can’t get anywhere today. Put a message in your songs about the state of the world or your society today and barely anyone listens. So many will agree yet they’ll be a larger audience who choose to ignore your message and listen to what they prefer. Who can blame them? You can’t MAKE people like your music.
The point is, it’s hard for any bands who have something to say. In fact, music was always a foundation of standing up and saying what was really on your mind, sticking it to the fucking man. Bands like Sex Pistols spring to mind. Go out there, do something that’s going to offend people, piss people off. It’s all for YOUR benefit. Don’t stand around making dick jokes for ages*, it can only be funny for a while. That’s not being offensive and the effect wears off. There’s a novelty in it, yes but where do you get? Just a fanbase full of kids who are going to grow up in to morphs of you. While you’ve got them hanging on your every word, tell them fuck the government. SOMETHING MINOR LIKE THAT!
What is happening with music these days? Someone tell me. Where is the emotion? Where are the offensive bands at? I don’t mean offensive like “Oh god, these death metal lyrics are just gross!”, I mean WHERE THE FUCK ARE OUR SEX PISTOLS? Sex Pistols are more relevant than many bands today, while it may be rare when they play shows, the music will still fuck people off and offend people as well as make just as much sense in today’s society than when it was first released some 30 odd years ago.
For fuck sake. Where are the bands pissing people off and sticking the finger up to everyone?
*Before anyone jumps in and says this is a dig at Blink-182, it’s not. Just an example..
When people normally think of Guns N’ Roses, the main songs spring to mind such as Sweet Child O’ Mine, Welcome To The Jungle and November Rain. People often recall former lead guitarist, Slash and his famous top hat playing the riffs and epic solos on the songs. But that was 20 years ago. Fast forward to the present day and it seems as though Guns N’ Roses, who’s only original member is frontman Axl Rose, has fallen to pieces. Of course, the band have turned up late onstage to nearly every gig for a long time now, even during the Use Your Illusion tour when more than one original member filled up the band.
If you’ve been living under a rock or in a cave for the last week, then here’s what you need to know. Guns N’ Roses headlined one of the nights at both the Reading & Leeds festivals. The band headlined Reading on the Friday night and Leeds on the Sunday night. However, things didn’t go to plan. Axl and pals came on over an hour late for their headline slot at Reading and ran over their curfew. The crowd wasn’t happy, but mainly with the band for keeping them waiting and then playing a set which apparently was played terribly. The power was then cut at midnight and as always, Axl threw a hissy fit. Axl and pals were than slated and they almost cancelled their Leeds festival appearance.
Skip forward a few days to last night, where the band were playing a headline show at Dublin’s O2 Arena. The band were once again late. As Axl started with Welcome To The Jungle, bottles were thrown. The song was cut short and Axl threatened to walk off if one more bottle was thrown. Axl probably gets tired or saying that as he has said it an awful lot in the past. He restarts the song and then walks off when more bottles are thrown. The Irish weren’t very happy. O2 Arena staff blamed “technical difficulties” whilst the crowd boo’d them and then another member of staff comes onstage to try calm down the crowd and promises them a great show if they don’t throw bottles. Eventually, the show was stopped completely with Axl and pals never coming back out. There has been no word on whether the audience members will get a refund or not.
The video can be seen below.
Is this the end of Guns N’ Roses? Has Axl finally put the nail in the coffin after years of destroying the band’s reputation and history? Should people even bother about a Guns N’ Roses reunion?
The current line up of the band is, as follows:
Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano (1985–present)
Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals (1990–present)
Tommy Stinson – bass guitar, backing vocals (1998–present)
Chris Pitman – keyboards, programming, backing vocals (1998–present)
Richard Fortus – lead & rhythm guitars (2002–present)
Frank Ferrer – drums, percussion (2006–present)
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – lead & rhythm guitars (2006–present)
DJ Ashba – lead & rhythm guitars (2009–present)
A full list of members and former members can be found here.
Even other musicians have been tweeting about the band. Including Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Ol Drake of Evile.
Greg tweeted twice about the current state of Guns N’ Roses, once to Axl (who probably doesn’t read his tweets) and once about former drummer (and original drummer) Steven Adler’s current band “Adler’s Appetite”.
The first tweet reads:
“@axlrose PUT ADLER BACK IN THE BAND DICKHEAD”
whilst the one before that reads:
“By the way @TApostolopoulos, having seen both, Adler’s Appetite is a FARRRR better GNR cover band than the actual current GNR…no contest”
Greg’s twitter can be found here.
Whilst Ol from Evile tweeted something with less harsh words but a true sadness:
“A realisation leads to sadness: Justin Bieber carried on, Axl Rose didn’t.” – Ol Drake’s Twitter
Of course there will always be people sticking up for Axl (God knows why..), no matter how unprofessional he is. Axl has been tweeting recently about the Reading and Leeds festival appearances explaining that it wasn’t his fault. Those tweets can be read here.
The band will be coming over to the UK for a short stint next month..although at this rate, I wouldn’t get your hopes up on enjoying the show.
Since Fall Out Boy went on hiatus, it all went seemingly quiet in the bassist’s camp. For someone who was usually spread all over music news like flies round shit, it looked as though Pete Wentz was keeping a low profile.
However, recently he has announced that he has been working on a new project of his and has even got a new band together, Black Cards.
Two snippets from forthcoming songs have been put up on the band’s website and can be heard now. The two tracks, Club Called Heaven and Beating In My Chest are a lot different to what we’re usually hearing Pete Wentz do. The female fronted band sound more ska or 2 tone then Fall Out Boy’s “emo” tag. While it may not be for everyone’s taste and most FoB fans will dislike it, it gets a thumbs up from me.
Pete Wentz issued the following statement on the site:
The takeover, the break is indeed over. As you may’ve read about over the last week, I’ve got a new band called Black Cards. When FOB went on hiatus, I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself. I know I wanted to keep travelling the world with my family. We had been to Jamaica recently. I spent a lot of time hanging around the beaches and I started to get inspired again by songs like “two sevens clash” and “warriors”. I’d never heard any of these songs but could imagine them having an everlasting imprint, like people would dance to this stuff forever. I could feel these songs really meant something. Not just in Jamaica but globally, crossing through culture and language. I started collaborating via email with my friend Sam, who I knew from working on “As Cruel as School Children”. He had been listening to a lot of old British stuff and we mashed that with the island vibe in the studio. I wanted to try a female vocalist cos I couldn’t imagine trying to replace Patrick. Combine all this with my nonsense and ideas. Stuff I could never write or never had a perspective to write from in FOB.
Check out some of what we’ve been working on here at www.blackcardsmusic.com. I know this won’t be for everyone but honestly its a chance for me to try something different. I remain Fall Out Boy’s #1 fan.
What do you think? Let us know!
Black Cards Official Site
Black Cards Official Twitter
Black Cards Official MySpace
Two of the former “Artist Of The Week” artists have got upcoming EPs which will be released very shortly or in the near future!
Hardcore group Final Round… FIGHT! will be releasing their new EP entitled “Ergonomics” in the near future and have uploaded two tracks from Ergonomics on to their MySpace. If “If The Idea Is To Stay Alive, I’m Driving” and “We Only Accept Cash and Pain” are anything to go by, Ergonomics is going to be awesome! FR…F! have definitely improved since The Party Bag EP. (which is still up for a free download HERE! if you haven’t downloaded it already!)
If that wasn’t enough, another new song entitled “Bleak Mondays” was played on Express FM and can be heard on the playback here! The song starts at 113 minutes and 13 seconds in.
Also releasing an EP shortly is Aleister X! The second EP from the party man himself was due to be released this June, however it looks like the date has been pushed back slightly, but here’s hoping that The Git will be released very shortly! New tracks which include “? Is The ?” and “Club Show Party” can be heard on Aleister’x MySpace page HERE!! as well as tracks from Aleister’s first EP “Bangers & Beans” which can still be ordered on iTunes!
To hear the new tracks visit the links below!
Official Final Round… FIGHT! MySpace
Official Aleister X MySpace
And to hear “Bleak Mondays” by Final Round… FIGHT! visit here! and remember that Bleak Mondays starts at 113 minutes and 13 seconds in!
The ideology of selling out has always been something within music that’s interested me. A band may change their style slightly for a record or experiment new ideas, their music may be featured on an advert on TV and people would consider it “selling out”. It’s these same morons that think that by getting bigger, the band is selling out. But what does selling out even mean?
According to Wikipedia: “Selling out” refers to the compromising of one’s integrity, morality and principles in exchange for money, “success” (however defined) or personal gain.
But of course, that’s Wikipedia. A place where anyone can edit the majority of pages (that aren’t locked). “Fans” (used VERY loosely) of bands who “sell out”, I pose a question to you…do you think that band wants to sit around with a very small fanbase playing shows to 100 people a night? No, they don’t. They don’t want to sit around making money (although it’s an upside), they want to be out there playing to thousands of people and making them people happy.
A couple of weeks ago, I found this Facebook group. For those to lazy to look, the title of the group is “When I was your age, The King Blues were good.” It angered me because The King Blues have been for quite some time my favourite band. They mean a lot to me and I hold them very close to my heart. I know, that may sound lame but live with it. The group has 26 members and I joined to post a video and a comment. The video will be posted at the end of this blog, but the comment read as follows:
Think what you want. I love both Under The Fog and Save The World. If you don’t like the new stuff, you don’t like it. But if you saw them live recently, the new stuff fits in pretty well.
You’re all going by what Fruitbag has said basically. Fruitbag left because of how unhappy he was, deal with it. It was sad, but move on. Bands can’t always stay the same y’ know, it’s not a secret little club to like a band. If a band you’ve liked for ages gets bigger even if their music goes a different way..IF YOU ARE A TRUE FAN THAT IS.. Stick with it.
Slag me off in anyway you want, I’ll just leave you to think about that.
Fruitbag, who I refer to, is the ex-guitarist of The King Blues who left towards the end of last year. He posted a blog on his MySpace page about it detailing why he left. Of course, these “fans” (again used loosely) are so pathetic and ignorant, the believe EVERYTHING that they read. Since when did the phrase “there’s two sides to every story” disappear?
The group was slagging off the band, saying how they’ve gone from a heavy ska-punk band discussing racism and politics in their songs to playing “pop” songs. The “pop” song they are referring to is the band’s latest single, Headbutt. It’s a lot different from their debut album Under The Fog, but if you see the band live, you’ll understand that the song fits in perfectly with The King Blues. It’s raw and it’s punk. Obviously these “fans” haven’t seen the band recently, as when they were debuting new songs, they played songs regarding racism and politics from their upcoming album Punk & Poetry. It’s all made me pretty angry. They also commented on how “I Got Love” from the band’s second album, Save The World, Get The Girl, was used in a Whiska’s advert..it made me ask..So what? And then I remembered this video (said video was posted to the group) so I’ll leave you to it and let you think whatever you want.
Oh yeah..The King Blues, Metallica and whoever else…AREN’T SELL OUTS.
I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say that I have done and do download music illegally. I don’t think it’s big nor is it clever. I’ve even used the excuse of “I buy CDs for bands I think deserve it and who really mean something to me.”
That statement is true, if an album comes out and that band are somthing special for me, I’ll buy the CD. Another statement could be “Well, these bands don’t get much money from CDs but I’m buying their merch and going to their shows, so that’s ok, right?”
Well yeah, that’s true…sort of. When music is so readily available to download and so easily obtainable, it may get hard not to buy CDs. It could also be seen as a way of finding out about new, upcoming artists. Just because music is their to download, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy a couple of CDs every now and again.
“Why pay for something I can get for free anyway?” Well, these bands make the music for you to listen to and you’re showing you don’t appreciate this? That’s kind of you! As I said, with the amount of music around today, it’s hard to buy all those CDs you want, but at least purchase some. I remember 10 years ago, getting a CD felt great, you could buy it and open the booklet..look at all the pictures, the thanks, the lyrics and whatever random other stuff they felt obligated to write in there. It wasn’t just a piece of plastic and it still isn’t just a piece of plastic.
Recently Bruce Dickinson complained about the free download of the new Iron Maiden track “El Dorado”. He said how CDs have balls. The quality on a CD is a lot better than an MP3. It’s true. Compare it. But nobody is going to walk out of the house with a CD player or a walkman when they have an iPod that holds 20,000 songs. What’s the point? Bruce has a fair point, it’s true but CDs are now a dying art form it seems. It’s sad but true, you don’t even need to leave the house to purchase music legally now. Card details at the ready and in seconds you’re downloading it on iTunes, but hey, at least you’re paying for it.
Downloading music illegally has its ups and its downs. Of course, it’s morally wrong and illegal but (and for the 3rd and final time) appreciate what these artists have done. They’ve put the blood, sweat and tears in to this record for you, while you’re in your warm house and they could be on the road going from gig to gig with about 15 people showing up at a time, strugging to pay for gas money. SUPPORT MUSIC. Don’t download illegally ALL the time, it’s not needed. It might seem harmless, but when you buy a CD nowadays, it feels like an accomplishment.
After Kerrang! magazine and Rock Sound have described Stars of The Search Party as “Infectious enthusiasm” and saying that they are a tight band, respectively, it’s not hard to see why the band are on the up!
Having been working intensively since 2008, empowered with their unique sound and their energertic live performances, the band aren’t showing any signs of stopping it. Having constantly toured the UK over the past 2 years, they’ve been able to build up an impressive fanbase.
The band have many different sounds, all wrapped up in a big ball and squashed down in to an infectious sound. Power metal guitars, but with an aggressive punk-rock outlook that is similar to that of Underoath or Proceed.
In April 2010, the band released their latest EP, ‘Lost in The Dust Pt II’, through the band’s management label, Busker’s Hat. Having shared stages with many UK bands who have previously undertaken the same route as Stars Of The Search Party, including Kids In Glass Houses, You Me At Six and A among many others, the band are definitely one to watch in the future as it’s clear that good things come to those who wait!
Hailing from the outskirts of Cambridgeshire in the quiet suburb of St Neots, it’s hard to imagine a band like The Perfect Crime could exist there. But they do and they are gearing up to release their debut album, Everything Else Can Wait later this year on August 16th.
The band have received praise from the online media after they released a double A-side last year and were soon signed to local independent record label, Speechless and have now finished and completed work on the forthcoming album with Pete Miles (King Blues, Failsafe.)
It’s hard to compare The Perfect Crime’s sound specifcally, it’s clear that the band take inspiraition from a variety of different artists. The sound is quite progressive at times and the opening track, Hailstones starts off slow and melodic before tearing in to a crunching riff and getting heavier.
Other songs which follow the pattern of a melodic and darker sound, such as Indigo sound like a band that are ready to break out in to the mainstream, even though they are at a young age. The Perfect Crime have hit home with the record, they clearly know what they’re doing and Everything Else Can Wait is a fantastic debut album which will be perfect for any rock fan of any genre.
For fans of: Deftones, Biffy Clyro, Young Guns, Thrice
The band’s debut album, Everything Else Can Wait, will be available from August 16th through Speechless. Tracks from the album are up on their MySpace, see link below.
Hailstones is also up for a free download on the official site.
The Perfect Crime Official MySpace
The Perfect Crime Official Site
Rage Against The Machine played at Rock im Park in Nuremburg, Germany last night as the first date on their short European tour, which includes this Sunday’s free gig, dubbed The Rage Factor, at London’s Finsbury Park.
Below is the setlist most likely to be used at the gig this Sunday as well as the band’s headline slot on the Saturday night of next week’s Download Festival!
Setlist:
Testify
Bombtrack
People Of The Sun
Know Your Enemy
Township Rebellion
Bullet In The Head
Year of tha Boomerang
Renegades of Funk [Afrika Bambaataa cover]
White Riot [The Clash cover]
Guerrilla Radio
Sleep Now In The Fire
Bulls On Parade
Wake Up
Encore:
Freedom
Killing In The Name
If you’re going to either The Rage Factor or Download Festival, it’s sure to be an absolute killer show! Rage don’t tour often (if ever nowadays!) so this a rare chance to see them!
