Re-Cord Store Day?

What are these things called Vinill Re-cords?

So, my local shop turns out, only sells used vinyls, but I managed to score Cheap Trick at Budokan, A Night At The Opera and Cool For Cats for 2bux apiece, along with Oasis's "What's The Story Morning Glory?" on CD.

I was thinking, at I-Con, I was selling/giving away CDs with this cover:

It came with 6 songs, "Status Quo Radio", "Wanderin' Johnny" "XZ71" "Force Of Nature" "Radio Days Pt. 1" and "Stack O Lee" (not in that order)

My question to you all is this:
Would you be interested in a CD with 4/5 songs of your choosing, AND a copy of the album in 11x17 poster format?

REVIEW: They Came From The Shadows

I followed For Tax Reasons ever since the short "I'M IN UR MANGER, KILLING UR SAVIOR" debut a couple Christmases ago. They haven't put out anything recent, so I've been following their animator, Ben's blog at Kill The Captains.

Recently he's been animating a music video for Teenage Bottlerocket. On a whim, I picked up the CD, after liking the two preview tracks. What did I think?

"Skate Or Die" had nothing to do with the old NES/Arcade game, but was still a straight-forward call to rebellion, and I liked it. "Don't Want To Go" was fast paced, and kept in line with the skate-punk feel of the first two. "Bigger Than Kiss", the song Ben's animating, was pretty intense. The rest of the songs bleed together. I know most punk is supposed to be straightforward, but it doesn't stand to be listened to all in one go. I guess I was kinda spoiled on "21st Century Breakdown".

It's good, it's competent, it's fast, but if you pick it up, I'd recommend burning it onto your computer and putting on shuffle.

ALSO OF NOTE:
1. I'll have Enter Sandman done by the new year.
2. I'm on the PSN Network as RhythmBstrd. Friend me!

REVIEW: 21st Century Breakdown

Still working on that foreshadowed update, but just so I have SOMETHING, I'll give my opinion on Green Day's latest album, 21st Century Breakdown.

Like American Idiot before it, 21st is a concept album, with some kind of story. I really couldn't tell. The names Christian and Gloria show up repeatedly, but the story's very loose and separating it into 3 acts only adds to the confusion.

In other words: THE LYRICS MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE.

It's supposed to be about the post-Bush days, and given that Armstrong's not rallying against him this album threw his focus off, but there's some really weird shit in there. I'll leave it to Something Awful for some examples.

Having said that, it still kicks ass.

When you first pop it in, and hear stuff like "Song Of The Century" and "21st Century Breakdown", it seems like they've gone to the poppy side. However, when thumpers like "Know Your Enemy" and "Christian's Inferno" come about, they're still the same, they just threw some other stuff in for the sake of diversity. And it is diverse. The seventh track (whose name escapes me) is reminiscent of a Beatles tune, and "21 Guns" reminded me of a Weezer ballad.

It feels so well put together, nonsensical lyrics be damned!

And this, like THe Hold Steady's "Stay Positive", knows when I'm bored. Half the songs start out slow, then kick into high gear the first minute in (like Viva La Gloria! and Before the Lobotomy)

FINAL VERDICT: Get for the catchy and diverse tunes. If you like rock, there's at least one song you'll like. For example, me and my Dad can't stop listening to "Static Age", even though I need someone to explain it me.

I do have faith in their selection of singles, since they, like American Idiot, seem to either be completely self-contained, or have themes that overshadow the story in the song.

REVIEW: Stay Positive

"Reptilia" comin' soon, y'all.

It was a summer day, and I was on the road to the Jamacia train station. I was listening to the radio when this catchy little hook comes on the radio, I was pleased. I knew it was going to be stuck in my head when the chorus came on:
In barlight, she looked all right.
In daylight, she looked desperate
That's all right I was desperate too,
I'm gettin' pretty sick of this interview
Subpoenaed in Texas,
Sequstered in Memphis!



And I got The Hold Steady's "Stay Positive" for Christmas. While The Hold Steady might seem like an entry level hipster/indie band, I'd file them under "Hidden Gem", since I regard "hipster" and "indie" with negative connotations. And I just plain don't like Questionable Content (a webcomic).

Another reason why I'm not dropping the "indie" bomb is that despite the morose sounding singer, these tracks (or most of them) are pretty upbeat and can rock pretty hard.

The most amazing thing about the album is that the CD knows when I'm bored. The first two tracks, "Constructive Summer" and "Sequestered In Memphis", are both high energy and catchy tunes. The next one "One For The Cutters" lives up to it's name. Everything fits together, but it's too depresing sober. But what's this? "Navy Sheets" is here to pick me up! The three chord hook and bouncy keyboards make it almost sound kinda like an Aquabat song. Even the normally low tone singer has improved his mood!

"Lord I'm Discouraged" is a long, classic rock ballad, and when it was starting to slow down, it comes in with the most bitchin' epic solo I've heard in a while.

Yeah, the singer sounds like he's constantly depressed, but luckily what he sings is a million times better than how he sings it. The songs are very narrative, and depending on the song, are perfect for drinking. The music sets the mood, and the guitar and keyboard complement each other well.

BOTTOM LINE: A great CD by a band I'm sad I didn't find out about sooner, that heralds a return to all I love about classic rock.

CHARGE!! Review!!!

Quick news first:
1.Sadly, my posting will be limited until the 3rd of January, because of the holidays and going away for vacation. Hopefully me wrist (and ankle) will recouperate.

2. I will try to finish the third tier before I have to go back the 26th of January, as well as a couple songs from Tier 4. They're getting harder now, so now's the time to buckle down. In an effort to post more frequent updates, I'll post song sections as opposed to whole songs.

3. My choice for Tier 4 DLC is one of my little brother's favorite songs, "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)" by Coheed and Cambria. Reader's Choice DLC picks to come soon.

SETLIST UPDATED

4. Finished putting up the Rock Band 2: The Stars recap. So, check that out.

5. The song I was working on for the Rock Revolution contest is still being worked on.

Now, onto the review:
Picked this one up for $8 at FYE.

I actually found out about The Aquabats (I refuse to use the exclamation points), via a Something Awful webcomic thread. Their TV show pilot surfaced on BoingBoing, and I don't remember what they thought of it, but I shook it off in favor of hilarity. On a wild hair one day, decided to check them out, and liked what I heard. But oddest of all was their superhero "background".

The Goon in me thought "What? Bunch of loving manchildren, trying zany monkeycheese poo poo. That's as gay as gently caress." (Without the filter: "Bunch of fucking manchildren, trying zany monkeycheese shit. That's as gay as fuck")
It's more or less pop-punk, and pop anything is TOTALLY GAY.
AND BATS CAN'T SWIM UNDERWATER

But I'm sure they don't care, and keep plucking along.

Gun to my head, if I were to describe it, I'd say it's like a very upbeat bastard child of the Dead Kennedys and the B52's. Which is apporpriate, given the fact that the lead singer kinda sounds like Bifara and the male vocals on "Love Shack". It's a little punky, little (bit more) poppy, little surf, little synth.

It gets a bit repetitive, most of the songs stick to the same few chords (it is punk after all), but unlike AC/DC there aren't the trademark solos. But after reading a review in my school's paper of their B.B. King's show, it's geared a bit toward "kids", so such a thing is to be expected. And by "kids" I mean it's accessible to kids (more than an AC/DC or Boston, or metal), but just crazy enough to get you listening too.

It's upbeat, catchy, and puts you in a good mood. But I was actually embarrassed to buy this album, for the reasons my Goon side mentioned. The songs are pretty off the beaten path, with stuff about parodying the music scene ("Fashion Zombies!"), nerds rising up ("Nerd Alert"), and random crap ("Mechanical Ape", which I didn't like too much, "Tiger Rider").

BOTTOM LINE: If you've ever said "What The Fuck?" and laughed, at the very least give one of their Myspace songs a listen. The whole Saturday-morning cartoon superhero thing might shake off some people looking for something deeper and more mature but what do you expect from a band that has a song called "Demolition Rickshaw"? If you want something ridiculous, but still has actual entertainment value, give it a try.

P.S. The lead singer is the probably-drug-addled mind behind a children's show called Yo Gabba Gabba! The star of the show is a DJ that sometimes opens for their performances, and has been dubbed "Gay Russian Army Urkel" by Joel McHale of The Soup.

And I mentioned The Soup last post didn't I? IT ALL COMES TOGETHER.

God I gotta get back on the guitar.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Now scram, South Park's "Woodland Critter Chirstmas" episode is on.

Black Ice Review

Finally got AC/DC's Black Ice at the MTV/Rock Band store yesterday.

Good News? Money well spent!

Bad news? Reinforces what I've feared for a long time: AC/DC's songs all sound the same. Granted, they're not as bad as Nickelback, but one can't help get deja vu.

Instead, what I like is the feel of an AC/DC song: Loud, energetic and heavy. After listening to the tracks, I can tell that while it isn't anything earth-shattering, it's still awesome.

A couple songs bled together, like "Smash n' Grab" and "Spoilin' for A Fight", and "Wheels" feels reminiscent, and this kind of thing is expected with AC/DC's consistency. "Rock n' Roll Dream" changes things up considerably, but still feels a bit awkward.

But there are a couple standout songs: "Rock n' Roll Train" isn't necessarily their most "uinque" song, but goddamn it just blasts out the speakers, and just feels good. "Skies On Fire" takes it down a bit with an almost celtic sound, with Cliff Williams (the bassist) getting something fun to do in chorus, and solos are blasting all throughout. "Anything Goes" is a bit more poppy, and "Stormy May Day" adds a little Southern slide guitar to the heavy blues.

Do I agree with Something Awful's take? Yeah, somewhat. There are a lot of songs with the word "Rock" in it (a similar reason to the name of Electric Six's "Fire"), and there aren't any fast paced songs like Heatseeker or Thunderstruck.

BOTTOM LINE: Still rocked my face off, just wish it was in a different way.

Tasty

All right, I don't have a song for you today. After I finish "Detroit Rock City" I'm going to work on "Creep", since I HATE that song.

Open Mic Night was a bust.

Figured I'd try to break my record of consecutive posts, and give a little info on what CDs I'd get given the money/asking for Christmas:
"Black Ice"- AC/DC
"Runnin' Wild"- Airbourne
"Charge!"- The Aquabats
"Fire"- Electric Six
"When We Were Young"- Akira The Don
"The Colour and The Shape"- Foo Fighters
"JoCo Looks Back"- Johnathan Coulton

Granted, this is outside my usual COMPLETELY LEGAL downloading shenanigans, I figured If I had the money to buy these CDs, I might as well be decadent and just get whatever BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL THAT SPECIAL.

Not my most eloquent posts, but I got stuff to do.

Christening My New PC

So as I said, this past weekend I had to bring my PC home. Got a new hard drive (160 GB), and I decided to burn a shitload of CDs onto it. Some were mine, some were "borrowed" from my Dad.

Figured it would be cool to show you what I got and give an insight of my music tastes. Here's the list:
2007 Warped Tour Compilation
The Rolling Stone Collection 1967-1969
The Rolling Stone Collection 1971-1973
The Rolling Stone Collection 1973-1977
The Rolling Stone Collection 1977-1982
The Best Of .38 Special
AC/DC- Back In Black
AC/DC- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
The Allman Brothers- Brothers and Sisters
The B52s- Cosmic Thing
The Beatles- 1
Billy Joel Greatest Hits
Blink 182- Enema Of The State
Bob Dylan- Blood On The Tracks
Boston- Boston
Brian Setzer Orchestra- The Dirty Boogie
Dead Kennedys- Give Me Convienience Or Give Me Death
Derek And The Dominioes- The Layla Sessions
Fastball- All The Pain Money Can Buy
Foreigner- The Best Of Foreigner
Green Day- International Superhits!
Green Day- Bullet In A Bible
Heart- The Road Home
The Kinks- Come Dancing With The Kinks
Led Zepplin- House Of The Holy
Lynyrd Skynyrd- Pronounced...
Madonna- Madonna
Pink Flyod- Dark Side OF The Moon
Semisonic- Feeling Strangely Fine
Steely Dan- The Best Of Steely Dan
U2- Achtung Baby
The Who- Quadrophenia
The Who- Who's Next
The Who- Tommy