I Want to Recognize...

I feel like there are just some things that I am missing. I listen to something and I realize that I could have been listening to that a lot longer than I have been. Sometimes it's just a band, other times, it's an entire genre.

Undisclosed Desires - Muse
I listened to this song more than anything else this past week. It is a song that I just can get enough of. In fact, the entire album is incredible. The Resistance came out just about two weeks ago and has been blowing my mind since.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I like this song the best. I just do. I think maybe it's the chorus, but I'm not too sure. The harmony that they can create is some of the best since Queen. Actually, I think this album sounds like a lot the influence came from Queen, but some disagree with me. It's alright, they can be wrong if they want to be.

Media Skeptic - Municipal Waste
These guys rule so hard.

As you have read in past entries, I'm a sucker for punk music. These guys play a kind of music called thrash crossover. That means that they play thrash music with heavy influence from hardcore and punk rock. They only have one guitarist for instance, something that is very common in punk bands.

I actually got to talk to Tony Foresta, the vocalist, this past Friday. Which was awesome, by the way. He's a really laid back dude. Thank God for that, too, because that was not a great interview by any standards.

He says that he listened to a lot of metal growing up, but then he also cited Minor Threat. He also said that he would love to tour with Motorhead or Blot Thrower. Good choices.

As I listened to these guys, I began to wonder. Why don't I listen to more thrash. It was at that instant that I turned Slayer on and got the album Enter the Grave by Evile. I'll get to them in a bet.

The song "Media Skeptic" comes off of their newest album, Massive Aggressive, which I absolutely love. This song has a really strong bass line and I like the lyrics a lot. It's refreshing to see punk style lyrics still around. The song, from what I can gather, is about thinking for yourself and not just being sheep to the media's word.

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups
I was first introduced to this band, really, by my sister. I played it in Rock Band without really paying attention to it and she really really liked it. She got some of their albums and I listened too. I have to say, I'm really glad that I did. This song comes off of Carnavas.

It's really relaxing and on the same token, kind of weird. He has an abnormally high pitched voice which really adds to both of the previously mentioned elements.

Indie rock is something that is very hit or miss with me. I don't like all of it, but I definitely like some of it.

Backbone - Gojira
I listen to these guys quite a bit, really, but I always find my self coming back to this song. It's probably my favorite song of theirs, coming off of From Mars to Sirius.

I love the guitar riff for the verses. It sounds so dramatic and big. The song just eats my up every time I listen to it. Everything else around me just isn't happening when this song is on.

These guys hail from France, but are one of the leaders in the New Wave of American Metal. No joke. These guys, along side Lamb of God, Godforbid, Chimaira, and Killswitch Engage, just blast forth and keep reinventing themselves.

Thrasher - Evile
Like I was saying before. There are just some types of music that I want to get into and thrash has become one of them.

Lately, I love thrash music. I guess it really started when I got into listening to Slayer. I had the privilege of seeing them this past summer and I really got into them. I saw Megadeth years ago, but that wasn't really something to get me into thrash. We won't talk about Metallica.

Then I started listening to Municipal Waste, which was awesome because I really like punk music and this crossover was something that I could really enjoy. I started thinking to myself that I don't listen to nearly as much thrash as I could be.

I then got this album, Enter the Grave by Evile. I listened to the whole thing and I love it. The song "Thrasher" is acutally in RockBand as a downloadable song.

This "Thrash Revival" is somethign that I think that I will really learn to enjoy. Bands like Evile, Mantic Ritual, and Toxic Holocaust really know what they are doing.

"I've been waiting..."

I Heard About It Drunk After a Show

Again, sorry so late.

I like to thinks that I listen to a decent variety of music. There are times when I listen to something specific a lot, but I like to change it up. I have all kinds of music at my disposal. I have nearly every genre on my iPod... except country. I kinda hate country.

My Orphan Year - NOFX
This is a band that I have only recently gotten into despite my love for punk rock. I got their music from a friend and I have been listening to them almost nonstop. This album, Coaster, is absolutely amazing, specifically the first four songs.

"My Orphan Year" may be one of the saddest songs I have ever heard. He talks about how his dad died with dementia and was never there for him. Then he sings about his mother battled cancer for over seven years and then apologizes for being a difficult child. It's really intense lyrically.

I Want to Be the One - The Megas
I love video games. Plain and simple. I love sitting down and wasting a day taking in a fantastic story, which doesn't really make it a waste. There have always been some games that I wished I had played when I was younger. Megaman is one of those games.

The Megas ae fantastic. Their album, Get Equipped, is a retelling of the story of Megaman 2. They took music from the game and turned it into a story-driven piece of art.

The whole way through the album, I try to create some kind of vision of how it all would look... if it weren't in a video game, and I find that it really isn't all that hard. They don't miss anything with their explanations.

I look forward to the release of their next album that tells the story of Megaman 3.

Where the Wave Broke - Burst
I first learned of these guys when I was reading an insert from a Cephalic Carnage album. Relapse Records puts these little papers inside of their CD cases with advertisements of bands and their upcoming albums.

I listened to just about all of the bands on that sheet that I didn't already know of. These guys were one of the only bands to actually stick around and really make an impression on me.

They are from Sweden and Sweden knows metal.

This is the first track from the album Origo. It's really a great album and this is a great way to begin. It starts soft and just keeps building and building. I'll be honest, I'm kind of a sucker for softer metal. This is more melodic than some of the other stuff that I listen to.

These guys are great and I really wish I could have seen them live. They are currently on their first American tour and it is sadly their last tour ever. They will be disbanding after this run. Too bad, really.

Cast Down - Slayer
Slayer rules. Period.
This comes from an album called God Hates Us All, which is my favorite Slayer album. Now, before anyone goes crazy and thinks that I am some kind of Satan worshiping heathen, Tom Araya stated in an interview that he chose the title because it sounded cool, not because God actually hates. Look it up.

This song is great. Definitely one of my favorites from the album. It's hard for me to explain why, but it is.

Slayer is legendary and if you don't know who they are, then you don't know metal. That's as simply as that can be put. If you listen to metal and have never heard of Slayer, you shouldn't be listening to metal. Unless you're like, eight years old or something.

Slayer not only rules hard, they play incredibly live as well. I had the privilege of seeing them this past summer on the Mayhem Festival Tour. It has been the only band I have ever seen that I felt okay to watch with my mouth gaping open in amazement.

Point A to Point B - Mason Proper
So, I'm really glad that I got this whole thing up late because if I hadn't, then I would have had to wait until next week to tell you about Mason Proper.

On Saturday night, I went to Village Green Records, affectionately called VGR, for a small festival of independent music. There was hip hop and indie rock that I heard. I got there at about nine in the evening and I stayed until about midnight. Good music with a good friend.

Mason Proper was the second to last band to play and I was really really impressed with them. The girl that I was with purchased the album and kindly let me copy it. All day, I have been listening to this album, Olly Oxen Free. Everyone of you that reads this needs to look them up. They have a myspace. I encourage you all to give it a listen.

"Your cardboard prison, asphalt wasteland..."

D-D-D-D-D-D-Die

Sorry so late.

Listening to music has become a staple in my everyday life. It doesn't even matter if I am going to use it; I will always have my iPod with me, just in case. It sits in my pocket, waiting to be played.

There are times when I just search and search for something to listen to while I am walking, or sitting, or eating, or whatever. Sometimes it's just hard to find something that I want to listen to. I have music from all throughout my life on my iPod. There is music from years and years ago that I have on there, simply put, for nostalgic reasons. Music that sends me back to elementary school. Some of the music this week is stuff that I listened to years ago, not necessarily from elementary school, but I think you get the point.

Omerta - Lamb of God
This is a song from years ago when I was still getting into metal. I had no idea what I was about to delve into. I was in the seventh grade when I first heard these guys. Right away, I was blown back and I have been locked on them since then.

I saw them live just a few short weeks after hearing them for the first time. I got some of their songs and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I thought that maybe they did something to his voice post production, but no. It sounded inhuman and insane. Ever since then, I have been searching for the heaviest music that I can find and every time I think that I have found it, something else pops up.

Ashes of the Wake from Epic Records is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. Even now after they have released two albums since, Ashes of the Wake stays in my heart.

Secrets of the Dead - Chimaira
This is a song that I really don't listen to very often at all. In fact, I don't listen to Chimaira as much as I should. The first album I heard from them was Impossibility of Reason, which is a really really good album. Most of the songs that I know from them is off of that album.

The Infection, coming from Ferret Music, is pretty good. I still hold Impossibility of Reason higher, but The Infection is still good. To be honest, I don't really know why I listened to this song so many times. I think maybe it was because I wanted to listen to Chimaira, but I just like this song so well, I just stayed there and kept listening to it.

Who Was in my Room Last Night? - The Butthole Surfers
This song is fantastic, seriously. It's weird, but I think that that is what draws me to it. I have always like weird music. I like to keep a steady diet of Frank Zappa.

This song was in Guitar Hero II, which was the frst rhythm game I owned. This was the song that I played constantly and could beat my friends in. Well, this and Monkey Wrench.

I have this entire album, Independent Worm Saloon, and I gotta tell you, it's really weird. There is some acoustic stuff in there with some of this punky kind of music mixed together.

Depression - Black Flag
Black Flag simply rules. There is nothing to really say about that. They are easily one of my favorite punk bands. While I like the harmonic sounds and the melodic NOFX and Bad Religion, I love the crunchy sound of Black Flag almost more.

This is the first Black Flag song that I ever heard. After that, I needed to get more. Henry Rollins is the angriest dude on the planet.

This song actually would be part of my life soundtrack if there was one. I have listened to this song so many times when I felt upset or angry. The way the lyrics are written with Black Flag is that they are really simple and it doesn't take a lot of thinking to get behind them. It's all right on the surface.

Laser Cannon Deth Sentence - Dethklok
Oh, man. This album, Dethalbum II, altogether is stunning. I couldn't believe what I was listening to the first time that I went through it. It comes out on September 29 from Williams Street.

This whole album is way better than the first one. They dropped some of the silliness and stepped up the musicianship. Now, I have always liked the way that Nathan Explosion has been portrayed, and they made it even better. Real screaming with real pitch and dynamics. What more can I ask for with vocals.

This song is the song from the first episode of the second season. When all of the prisoners break free and Dethklok is charged with the responsibility of choosing their death sentence? Yeah, that one.

I don't want to say too much because I would like to have a review of the album up closer to when it launches.


"All my neighbors are fast asleep and I can't find anything to drink."

I'm Floating Toward the Sun

The second week of classes just finished up and I have started to get my routine down to a science. I know where I am going at what time. I have my schedule memorized and lunch time is never an issue. While I walk around campus, I always have my iPod and I find myself listening to select songs more than others. It seems as though every week it changes.

I listen to a lot of music all of the time, but my ears are generally dominated by a few songs each week. The top five songs of the week are what drives me and makes sure that I am awake and ready for the next class.

This past week was quite a mix of different music. A little punk, a little metal, a little of I'm not sure what to call it.

"Take a Bow" - Muse

The song starts almost enigmatically. A synthesizer draws you away to another galaxy far, far away from this one. The song tells a story of what could be a corrupt leader being tried by it's subjects for all of the wrong that he or she has committed.Muse has made some pretty weird music. Some of it just drives like a rock song and some of it jumps like a pop song. These guys are well-rounded in the music that they make. "Take a Bow" is from Black Holes and Revelations, and album that makes all of these leaps in just under an hour.

The words begin softly as if the people are just starting to realize what their leader has been doing. The people start to tell the leader that he or she will pay for the things that have been done. As the song continues, it all starts to pick up.

My favorite part of the song starts around two minutes in when the echo of Matt Bellamy's voice repeat in an almost robotic fashion. The song was used in the trailer for the movie Watchmen and that's what really got me into it.

"Right in Two" - Tool

I have always said that Tool is the new-age Pink Floyd. The things that Keenan says are just so outlandish. Maybe that's one of the reasons that I enjoy them so much.

Progressive rock is something that I really like. Odd rhythms and bizarre phrasing keep me listening day in and day out.

"Right in Two" comes off of 10,000 Days, a concept album about a man abducted by aliens and his struggle in expressing his story to everyone else.

I'll be honest, I have no idea what this song is about. I can't put my finger on it. He says things that are just so insane, I can't figure it out. My only hypothesis is that the song is in the first person point of view from the man abducted and that it's the way the things he says sound to everyone that listens--complete nonsense.

I think that the real reason I was listening to this song so many times this week is because I was trying to figure out what he was talking about. The fact that it's really calm and soothing only adds to it.

"Nocturnal" - The Black Dahlia Murder

This is heavier than all of the other songs from this week. I don't know what it is about these guys, but I can't get enough of them as band altogether. Their

music, especially the album Nocturnal, is amazing.

While I was listening to this album, I knew that I wanted to put something from it on the list this week, but I had a hard time figuring out which one.

I think what sold me was the chorus when he says, "Nocturnal majesty, sworn to black we'll always be." The way he screams those words and the effect they put on his voice is unlike anything I have heard from other death metal albums.

"San Francisco" - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

This song is weird. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are so great. They make decent punk rock without being total douchebags. The album Blow in the Wind is a series of covers. They reinvented songs by performers like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Cat Stevens.

This song was originally done by a man by the name of Scott McKenzie. I don't know anything about him. Until I looked it up, I had never heard of him. It's not a very long album--only about thirty minutes or so. This was another album that I had a hard time picking a song from. I listened to this over and over while I was waiting for class and this song jumped at me the most.

During the chorus, he sings rather high and for whatever reason, I liked that the best. It's interesting and fun.

"Sun of Nothing" - Between the Buried and Me

Colors is an album that I am kicking myself in the butt for not listening to earlier. I just got the album this week and I am amazed. It may be one of the best albums I have ever heard. With eight songs standing at one hour, it's a masterpiece.

Every song on the album links to the next. In essence, the album isn't split into tracks as much as it is split into movements. It all starts and ends with a piano and is injected with every genre of music in between. This is a metal album with a polka breakdown. With these guys, nothing is taboo.

The song I like the most, or at least so far, is "The Sun of Nothing." It's an amazing metal song with a mind-blowing drum intro, incredible guitar work and beyond solid vocals. The bass work is out of this world. What really sells me on this song, though, is the soft part at about eight minutes in. "I'm floating towards the sun, the sun of nothing." His voice just sounds so honest. I have been singing it out loud for the past two days.

This week was pretty good. Even though I was just thinking about the coming long weekend, it was overall a good week and I think the music reflects that.

"Angels on the sideline..."