Music
Has anyone heard that new Shinedown track? It's a cover of the old Lynyrd Skynyrd (sp?) song, "Simple Man." I didn't realize it was a cover at first, but that does explain a lot, as the song seemed somewhat out of character from other Shinedown that I'd heard. Anyways, that song is awful. My god, if there's such a thing as over-acting on a song, that's what the singer is doing. I feel bad for the acoustic guitar accompaniment that's really just bludgeoned to death under the singer's over-wrought vocals. I'm all for soulful ballads -- but this song is just all wrong. I never thought it was possible, but I think there's really too much soul shoved into that song. Seriously, every single word of the chorus is held for about ten seconds too long. I was really thinking about picking up their album on the strength of ".45" and "Fly From Inside"... but now I'm having second thoughts.
Speaking of weird covers, A Perfect Circle has done a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine." I'm not sure I understand it, or even like it, but there's certainly something about it. I'm not a big Beatles fan... not really one at all, in fact... but I'm maybe a little perturbed that APC somehow made "Imagine" sound very... dark. The guitars are kinda droning and Maynard's voice is as haunting as ever. It's an interesting song, in any case, I'd recommend checking it out.
In other alt-rock news, there's some good stuff out there now. As far as radio play is concerned, I'm digging on Coheed and Cambria's "A Favor House Atlantic," and their album is on my to-get list. Chevelle's "Vitamin R" is an absolutely kick-ass track, sounds a lot like their first single from their first album, which was pretty good, but this one's even better. I didn't care for Dashboard Confessional's "Vindicated" much at first, but the song has really grown on me, and I'm singing along now. I wanna say there's a few more standouts, but they don't come to mind at the moment.
I first heard Breaking Benjamin on the radio a few weeks back and picked up their album on a whim... it's pretty excellent. Some people like to compare it to Tool in a negative light, or accuse them of ripping off Tool's sound... to which I say: "So!?" If a band wants to try and sound like one of the best bands of our era, I say more power to 'em. Check out "We Are Not Alone" -- tracks 1, 3, and 5 are especially tasty.
Have I mentioned how much the Nerve sucks? For those who don't know, Rochester has two rock stations -- the Nerve and the Zone. The Zone (94.1, for reference) is just far and away the better station. I almost despise the Nerve because honestly, everytime I turn to that station, I hear either Godsmack or Metallica. It never fails. Wait, they also play Disturbed -- a band which I actually like, but they still overplay severely. It really never fails, within two songs of listening to the Nerve, I will hear one of those three bands. It's pathetic. The Zone has more variety, more new artists, more classic tracks. Speaking of classic tracks, the Nerve annoys me because the only Rage song they ever play is "Killing in the Name" -- which, honestly, is one of Rage's low points for me. The Zone plays "Down Rodeo," which absolutely rules. The nail in the coffin is that the Zone has Howard Stern in the mornings, which makes for a much better morning drive. For awhile, I thought the Nerve was going off the air, and I almost celebrated, even though that'd leave only one rock station in the area. Phew.
What else?
Oh yeah, Modest Mouse. Holy shit, if you do not listen to their new album you are doing yourself a disservice. "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" should probably win album of the year, but it will never even come close. I really can't even explain why the album is so good. Hell, I didn't even think it was so good when I first listened, but it grew on me, and for the longest time it was all I listened to. It's funny, because you can't say "I don't like that genre." Modest Mouse really is a genre unto itself. Just take a look at the liner notes -- you'll see some intruments in there you've probably never even heard of. It's ridiculous, the four members of the band each play like eight different instruments throughout the course of the album.
The vocal styles of singer Isaac Brock are somewhat eclectic, the kind of thing you need to hear to really get a grip on. The whole album is like that -- the first two or three listens are just to get a grasp on what's going on in the songs. When I first heard the single, "Float On," I had no idea if I liked it or not, but I was intrigued. The second and third listen I began to puzzle it out, and then I finally realized how excellent the song really was. The new single that's coming out, "The Ocean Breathes Salty" is even better, as the lyrics in the song are brilliant (as are most of MM's). I don't know what more I can say, you can pick up the album for about $10 bucks at good record stores (read: not FYE -- try a local store or Best Buy)... try out some mp3s if you need to, but buy this album, it's simply phenomenal.
Peace,
Schmitty
Speaking of weird covers, A Perfect Circle has done a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine." I'm not sure I understand it, or even like it, but there's certainly something about it. I'm not a big Beatles fan... not really one at all, in fact... but I'm maybe a little perturbed that APC somehow made "Imagine" sound very... dark. The guitars are kinda droning and Maynard's voice is as haunting as ever. It's an interesting song, in any case, I'd recommend checking it out.
In other alt-rock news, there's some good stuff out there now. As far as radio play is concerned, I'm digging on Coheed and Cambria's "A Favor House Atlantic," and their album is on my to-get list. Chevelle's "Vitamin R" is an absolutely kick-ass track, sounds a lot like their first single from their first album, which was pretty good, but this one's even better. I didn't care for Dashboard Confessional's "Vindicated" much at first, but the song has really grown on me, and I'm singing along now. I wanna say there's a few more standouts, but they don't come to mind at the moment.
I first heard Breaking Benjamin on the radio a few weeks back and picked up their album on a whim... it's pretty excellent. Some people like to compare it to Tool in a negative light, or accuse them of ripping off Tool's sound... to which I say: "So!?" If a band wants to try and sound like one of the best bands of our era, I say more power to 'em. Check out "We Are Not Alone" -- tracks 1, 3, and 5 are especially tasty.
Have I mentioned how much the Nerve sucks? For those who don't know, Rochester has two rock stations -- the Nerve and the Zone. The Zone (94.1, for reference) is just far and away the better station. I almost despise the Nerve because honestly, everytime I turn to that station, I hear either Godsmack or Metallica. It never fails. Wait, they also play Disturbed -- a band which I actually like, but they still overplay severely. It really never fails, within two songs of listening to the Nerve, I will hear one of those three bands. It's pathetic. The Zone has more variety, more new artists, more classic tracks. Speaking of classic tracks, the Nerve annoys me because the only Rage song they ever play is "Killing in the Name" -- which, honestly, is one of Rage's low points for me. The Zone plays "Down Rodeo," which absolutely rules. The nail in the coffin is that the Zone has Howard Stern in the mornings, which makes for a much better morning drive. For awhile, I thought the Nerve was going off the air, and I almost celebrated, even though that'd leave only one rock station in the area. Phew.
What else?
Oh yeah, Modest Mouse. Holy shit, if you do not listen to their new album you are doing yourself a disservice. "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" should probably win album of the year, but it will never even come close. I really can't even explain why the album is so good. Hell, I didn't even think it was so good when I first listened, but it grew on me, and for the longest time it was all I listened to. It's funny, because you can't say "I don't like that genre." Modest Mouse really is a genre unto itself. Just take a look at the liner notes -- you'll see some intruments in there you've probably never even heard of. It's ridiculous, the four members of the band each play like eight different instruments throughout the course of the album.
The vocal styles of singer Isaac Brock are somewhat eclectic, the kind of thing you need to hear to really get a grip on. The whole album is like that -- the first two or three listens are just to get a grasp on what's going on in the songs. When I first heard the single, "Float On," I had no idea if I liked it or not, but I was intrigued. The second and third listen I began to puzzle it out, and then I finally realized how excellent the song really was. The new single that's coming out, "The Ocean Breathes Salty" is even better, as the lyrics in the song are brilliant (as are most of MM's). I don't know what more I can say, you can pick up the album for about $10 bucks at good record stores (read: not FYE -- try a local store or Best Buy)... try out some mp3s if you need to, but buy this album, it's simply phenomenal.
Peace,
Schmitty
posted by Kultcher at Tuesday, October 05, 2004
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