BOTM – Page 5

Band of the Month – November 2004

Oops, I’ve gone and done it again. Band of the Month is very late once again, and since this is only the fourth installment of the featurette, I’d say I’m off to a pretty bad start. I’m not sure if it’ll keep up like this. You remember how the weekly article thing went down the shitter real fast. I’ve got a lot more slack with this being once a month, but I’m still managing to muck it up. But enough about how I’m a failure, you want to know about some sort of “band” thing.

I’ll admit that I only started liking POD (Payable on Death) a couple years ago when their song “Alive” hit it big. And what can I say? I’d never heard of them before. But after that, my buddy Mike (who may have liked them before, I don’t know) got really into them, this came to that, and boom (no pun intended) I had their latest CD. Which as far as I know, is the only one with a slew of hits on it. Their first major release, as I understand, wasn’t big enough to warrant any radio songs, but the second had at least three. As for the third and most recent release, well, I haven’t heard any of the songs on the radio yet. My brother had apparently heard one, and the song “Change the World” seems to be very hyped on the official site, so maybe it has been played on some radio or TV station, I don’t know, I don’t listen/watch the stations that would be playing it.

While their first major release, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, came in 1999, it wasn’t their first. I’m not going to look up independent release info, but I’ve heard they’ve got 11 CDs in total, so I’ll assume that the eight independent productions came before this one. Nuff ~~said~~ made up, onto the CD review. I never owned The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, but I have listened to it. It’s a good CD all in all, but I just never got very into most of it. Some songs, particularly “Rock the Party” (which just screams HARDCOOOORE!!) and “Bullet the Blue Sky” (a very nice U2 cover) are quite enjoyable. Also noteworthy is the pseudo-title track, “Southtown”. But the rest, I can’t really remember the rest, and that doesn’t say anything very good. I’m sure I liked most of the other songs (I did burn the CD after all. Illegal copying abound!), but I just can’t put the titles to the beats. In any case, listen to at least the songs I mentioned and come to your own conclusions, because I clearly don’t have one to give you.

The next one is the big one: Satellite. Great CD from start to finish, I think. OK, that’s not entirely true. I find the song “Ridiculous” to be ridiculously annoying, but it comes after the soothing instrumental piece “Celestial”, and the excellent title track “Satellite” so it works out somehow. And then afterwards is my personal favorite song on the album, “The Messenjah” and the second instrumental, “Guitarras De Amor”. So the annoyingness of the single song I don’t like is negated very well by the songs immediately surrounding it, making it that much easier to bear. Other songs you might want to check out are, as popularity would dictate, are “Alive”, “Boom” and “Youth of the Nation”. Hell, pretty much everything on the CD is worth listening to, and did I not already own it, I would pay up to an inflated $30 for it. But it’s probably not that expensive yet, so let’s not worry about it. You can probably still find it for between $15 and $20, and if you don’t yet own it, I highly suggest changing that. You know, I’ve not really gotten into what kind of music POD plays yet. I think that’s something I usually make mention of by now. Basically, what they are is this group of Christian rockers, and the lyrics heavily reflect that. Satellite here is a very metal CD, but most of the other stuff I know takes elements from metal, rap and reggae, somehow combining them in this original fashion that manages to make everything work out just perfectly and sound really awesome in the process.

And with the mention of genre-splicing comes the newest major release, Payable on Death. This self-titled disc is so different from the las that if it weren’t for recurring themes and Sonny’s instantly recognizable voice, you may be fooled into thinking it’s a different band altogether. While I’m not sure, I think this is the point where long-time fans would say something like “POD gets back to their real style after that last sellout piece of garbage.” I really just made that up, but I hear it a lot when doing research for these Band of the Month things (of which I did surprisingly little for this one), so I’m pretty sure that’s how it would go down. Anyway, this album, or so I’d like to believe, introduces a new guitarist to the crew, after they apparently had some differences with the last one. Personally, I’ve never been able to point out a guitarist (or any musician) by his playing like some people can, so it don’t make much difference to me. I think I’m gonna have to move to a new paragraph to continue this one…

As I was saying, Payable on Death is hella different from Satellite. And isn’t that supposed to be how it is? Well, most bands stick to a very similar style of music, but as I said, Satellite was mostly metal, while this one gets really into the reggae groove. Of course, you still get a good amount of metal and hip-hop. Simply put, it’s a mixed bag of genres. Oh, yes, and it’s a good CD too. Strangely, it takes a while to truly appreciate. For example: at first, I didn’t really like “Will You”. But after a few listens, it quickly became one of my favorite songs on the disc. It’s like that with a lot of the songs, but they grow quickly. The only other band I’ve seen display this phenomenon was My Chemical Romance. I guess you’ll wanna know which songs to look out for on this one, eh? “Change the World” is rather good, and “Execute the Sounds” has a sound that is executed rather well. Also, “Revolution” is pretty hardcore with a slick rhyming verse, and I like that one a lot. But I think that the best track on the CD is probably the last one, “Eternal”. It’s a nice, mellow guitar duet that ends up as a great piece to go out on. If I should mention, the CD is a little extra expensive because it comes with a lot of bonus material. First is the ability to download the secret-esqe song, “Space”, but my computer just starts shitting itself whenever I try to download it. Also, there are a bunch of videos about the band, and a bonus DVD disc with a demo of the PS2 game Amplitude that features only “Space”. Yes, it’s appropriate, but I like my rhythm game demos to have at least 2 songs. In any case, as far as Amplitude can tell me, “Space” isn’t all that worth downloading anyway, so I’m not too disappointed about it.

OK people, that’s a wrap. I’ve really got nothing else to say but to go listen to a couple of the songs I mentioned and see for yourself the awesomeness that is POD. In other news, I suck at reviewing bands, so here are some links.

A cute little turtle – Kind of. I really don’t want to spoil what’s at the other end of this link, but I guarantee it’ll have you going something like “Holy shit!”. I, personally, think it’s really cool.

The Jones Soda Holiday Pack – Apparently, mashed potato & butter soda doesn’t go over so well with most people. Another proof that people will flock to anything with a “limited edition” sticker on it. It’s Matt’s first real article since Halloween, and now I don’t mind having waited so long. Ah, the joy of watching other people suffer mildly.

Resident Evil 4 controller – And in this corner, the king of bad ideas! Really. I want to hammer a nail into the head of the idiot who thought this up.

Super Mario 64 DS preview – If I don’t post for a while (like a month or so) after the 21st, this, Metroid Prime 2 and Viewtiful Joe 2 will be the ones to blame, not me.

Band of the Month – October 2004

Computer’s still broken. I cleaned out a clump of spyware, but the scanner’s getting stuck on something and freezes up when it gets so far, so there’s probably something bigger afoot. In any case, we’re halfway through the month, and I haven’t done the Band of the Month yet. I did change the link and picture on the sidebar though, so I clearly haven’t totally forgotten about it. So yeah, I think now’s the time.

This month’s band is good old Saliva. I’m sure most of you have heard of them. As far as I can remember, they’ve only had two big hits, with only one being overplayed on the radio, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re still a band that most people probably know of. Boy, my banter is even more annoying and senseless today, isn’t it? Well, it sounds like it as I read it back, but I’m gonna leave it that way. I’m not going to go through the trouble of trying to salvage this train wreck of a paragraph. I just don’t really have it in me. In any case, Saliva’s put out four CDs so far, and I believe that it’s the time where I briefly summarize them for youse.

First up was Every Six Seconds. An excellent CD, which I never got around to actually buying. I dunno why. I loved it, but I guess I just never saw it anywhere. In any case, the hit off this one is clearly “Click Click Boom”, which probably went unnoticed for a while, until it was used in “The Fast and The Furious”. Or at least that’s what I hear. Not sure if it got much radio time, but I personally haven’t ever heard it there. Just in movies. But that’s not the only good song on the disc. You’ve gotta take “After Me” and “Your Disease” into account too. Now that I think of it, the latter may have been a radio song. I’m not sure. I only listen to the 80’s rock radio stations. That aside, all the other songs on the CD are good too, and worth your bandwidth if you wanna give ’em a shot.

Then comes Back Into Your System. This one held their real claim to fame; “Always”. Holy hell did that song get a lot of radio time. And it’s nowhere near the best song on the CD. Not by a long shot. While this CD is a lot slower than the first, it’s probably my favorite. “Superstar II”, which is somehow a sequel to a song, is a great song to start with. Along with great tracks like “Rise Up” and the somber “Rest in Pieces”, it makes for some great listening, particularly for those who like a rollercoaster style album, with both hard rock and slower songs intertwining the whole way through.

The latest CD is called Survival of the Sickest. It’s, well, very different than the last. This CD is all about rock n’ roll. The first track, “Rock N’ Roll Revolution” sets that up pretty well, and the rest of the album follows up with it pretty well. It’s not as slow as Back Into Your System or as fast as Every Six Seconds, but it does find a perfect little niche right in the middle, and always manages to sound good. At first, I was a little on edge about some of the songs, but after listening through it, I’ve warmed up quite nicely to the different sound of the disc. Particularly “Bait & Switch” and the hidden track “Sex, Drugs and Rock N’ Roll”. It sure takes a turn from the last two albums, but in a good way.

And after a little research, I should mention that Every Six Seconds was only the first major release. Before that, they had one independent, self-titled CD. I’d never heard of this CD before now, to be honest, and I only know three songs from it, being “Beg”, “Greater Than/Less Than” and “800”. The first two because they’re also on Every Six Seconds and the third because I’d downloaded it before. In any case, fans of the band seem to like it pretty well, so I guess I’ll just have to refer you to those opinions for now.

Another notable fact is that they’ve done a few extracurricular projects too. Like the uber-popular collaboration with Chad Kroeger of Nickelback: “Hero”. If you’ve ever played… Well, I’m not sure of the year, but I think it’s “Tiger Woods 2002” or something like that, but the soundtrack is like half Saliva, and a few decent remixes too. Finally, they also recorded a song for the Daredevil soundtrack called “Bleed For Me”, which I love. On a different note, the Daredevil soundtrack seems to be quite a find itself. A little too much Evanescence for me (any is too much for me), but the rest seems pretty good. But I should get back to the topic at hand.

Or not. I’m pretty much done. I guess this band of the month feature just started off as album summaries, and has been like that up until now. There’s not a lot else I know to say about music except for pointing out songs I like. But yes, that’s going to be the end for now. I’ll do my best to get future editions done during the first week or so of the month, rather than halfway through. For now though, it’s back to trying to fix my computer. Maybe this is a sign that I should go back to using Opera instead of Internet Explorer. Well it’s worth a shot, right?

Band of the Month – September ’04

Yes, it’s that time again. Time for me to take a band and review it! Only, this time I kinda misjudged how much time I actually have to do it, so this one is probably going to be a little short and typo-filled. But in light of that little oopsie, the show must go on.

September’s BotM is one of my favorite (and apparently not too well-known) rock n’ roll bands, Firehouse. While most hair/rock n’ roll bands were having their best times in the 80’s, Firehouse started up (or at least released their first album) in the 90’s. Probably right after the tides of pop culture had shifted, and this could be why they aren’t quite as popular as say, Poison. Actually, I don’t really have any idea exactly how popular or whatnot they were, but nobody I know personally has ever heard of them, so I can only assume that they’ve spend most of their career just under the big time radar. Nevertheless, they’ve released a grand total of 6 albums, one hits collection and one live performance disc, spanning all the way from 1990 to 2003. Not bad, I say.

While I’ve never been able to track down any of these discs (and looking at the track lists, I know I’d pick up at least one or two), I have listened to a lot of their stuff, and I’ll just make various assumptions about some of the CDs. The first one, a self-titled debut (which seems like a rather common way to name a debut), is all-around pretty awesome. It’s got a lot of their best stuff, like “All She Wrote” and “Shake & Tumble”. Also in this little bundle of joy is “Oughta Be a Law”, which at first listen I thought was Motley Crue. Possibly my favorite song on the CD too. And then down near the end is without a doubt their best slow song “Love of a Lifetime”. The next release was Hold Your Fire, and I’ve only heard one song from it, “When I Look Into Your Eyes”, which is pretty good, but if I based it alone versus any of the songs off Firehouse, it really wouldn’t hold a candle the the first disc.

Next up comes 3. Short, appropriate, and to the point. Not generally what you look for in an album title, but it works well. Again, I’ve heard very little music from this disc, and I can’t make an appropriate judgement of this CD. But the few songs I have heard were pretty good, so the rest is probably along that track somewhere. Then came the hits collection, Good Acoustics. Haven’t heard every single song on this one, but it’s a hits collection. It has to be good if it’s made up of their best stuff. After that comes Category 5 which seems pretty good, if a bit out of order. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems as though slower songs work best near the end of a CD, especially with rock bands, and this one’s got a really slow song, “Dream” right in the number 4 spot. But it starts with another of my favorites, “Can’t Stop The Pain”, so I’m not going to ding any points.

And that brings us to the live CD, entitled Bring ’em Out Live. This is pretty much a second hits album, just recorded at a live show. Then we get to the twentieth century albums, O2 and Prime Time, both which I have never heard a single song from. But I have read a couple reviews of them on Amazon and the reviewers seem to think that they don’t even come close to the stuff on the first two releases, so I guess that’s all I’m able to tell you about ’em.

As a quick conclusion, I love the music. It’s really not quite up to par with some of the bigger bands of the genre, but it could fill in in a pinch. I’d love to talk about what parts of the music I like, but I really have no clue what’s going on there. I’m not really licensed to review music. Anyhow, great band, and you should definitely download a couple songs to see what they’re like. And if you ever, EVER see one of their CDs in a store, you tell me. That’s an order. I guess this got a little longer than I expected, but there was quite a bit to say. And to make up for what’ll probably become a post drought (yes, this month will probably be pretty uneventful), here are some links that I fancy.

Ninja Turtles anime, reviewed – Yes, a Ninja Turtles anime. You will be 100% surprised at what goes on here. Unless you’ve seen it, of course. But still. Six pages of wacky Japanicised Ninja Turtles. I’m still in shock. And toying with the idea of squid ink pizza.

TMNT musics! – More turtles. A bit of an overdose for a normal people, but for a TMNT fanboy like myself, this is just icing on the cake that was that review. Oh, and they’re soundtracks and such from different TMNT stuff, like that live concert (which I have the original tape of!).

The Number 000 Blues – *sigh* Another webcomic. I’ve gotta stop reading new ones. It’s just too much to keep up with. This one’s a sprite comic about what goes on behind the scenes before and during the first MegaMan game. Pretty interesting for someone such as myself, probably mundane for someone such as yourself.

Spider-Man reviews crayons – If you thought the bullshit was done, here’s some more! Seriously, if anyone but Matt (except maybe -RoG- of I-Mockery) had done it, it would be stupid as hell. But somehow, it works and it’s hilarious. Must be another six pages here, but it’s mostly pictures.

New feature! Band of the Month!

Yeah, I think I need a new feature for the site. It really doesn’t have that much of it’s own personality yet. Mostly just taking ideas from other people and changing them up a little. But this one, I thought up all on my own. Yeah. Okay, it’s not original, but I don’t read any sites that have the same thing, so I’ll call it my own for now.

So here’s a brief rundown of how it’s going to work. Basically, every month I pick a band to do a short review on (and I mean short. I’m not sure how to review bands/music.). I guess for the most part, it’ll be whatever band I’m listening to the most at the time. Unless I’m still listening to the same thing two months in a row, in which case I’ll choose one at random. To kick off this little feature, I present to you My Chemical Romance.

I’ve honestly only been listening to them for 4 or 5 days, but I cannot deny that MCR is one kickass band. Plainly stated, they rock. Solid guitar work, some impressive drumming, and excellent vocals all wrap themselves together quite nicely to form one helluva band. The genre issue is a little up in the air with these guys, as they sound like they could be either punk or rock, while having a slight tinge of goth and/or emo in the lyrics. In the end though, genre doesn’t matter much, because they still kick ass.

A relatively new band, MCR has realeased a grand total of two albums in the last two years. While their debut I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love is a lot more praised by their fans, the new one, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is in my opinion just as good as the original. While I haven’t heard most of the songs on Three Cheers…, what I have heard is just as impressive to me as the stuff off their first disc. I guess a good place to start would be taking a look at some of the songs.

I’ve listened to the entirety of I Brought You My Bullets… and there are a lot of things to pick out. First off, the apparent most popular song (and incidentally the first I listened to), “Vampires Will Never Hurt you” is a great song, but I don’t really see what the hype is about. I personally prefer the upbeat and ironically worded “Headfirst for Halos”. It’s fast, almost poppy (while retaining the hardcore), and the lyrics are the exact opposite. I’m not going to get into it much more, but they contrast with the music in an almost artsy kind of way. Another song that I like quite a bit is “Skylines and Turnstiles”. It’s mostly your basic rock, and I just find it more catchy than most of the other songs. “Drowning Lessons” is damn sweet too, but I find “Cubicles” to be a little irritating. An overall great album, with a good bit of variety without changing the way they play. Very nicely done.

At this point in time, I’ve only listened to two songs from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, but I love the songs. One, “The Ghost of You” is one of those slow songs that isn’t a slow long, like Lifehouse’s “Hanging by a Moment”. It’s got a lot of emotion in it, and some of the best vocals that frontman Gerard Way has ever sung. The other song “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison” is a real grab bag of sounds. It starts off sounding reminiscent of Hoobastank’s “Can I Buy You a Drink”, but then quickly goes to a much faster paced and takes on a tone suited well to speed metal. Well, maybe not that fast, but the chorus is pretty damn fast. Oh, and the song kicks absolute ass. If you’ve never heard of MCR before and want to download something to see what they’re like, go with this one. It’s my favourite song from the guys, and it’s just (for lack of a better word) “fun” to listen to.

Now, I need to point out some general things about the band. The one thing that I really notice is that a lot of their songs have obscenely long titles. If I had a band, I’d use almost all one word titles, but that’s just me. I don’t know why, but this bugs me. I’ve never seen any bands with such a tendency, but then again, I haven’t listened to a lot of lesser-known bands. The other thing that I took note of right away is that most of the time, the vocals are particularly screamy. I’m not a fan of bands that scream a lot (how the Hell do I like Slipknot?), but it’s not too common to be annoying, so I’ve no trouble tolerating it. Lastly, it’s often hard to make out the lyrics. Not quite AFI hard, but if you like to know what they’re saying, you’re going to go through some frustration if you try to figure them out on your own. Me, I like to know the words so I can sing along, so I’m slightly annoyed, but like the screaming, I can brush it off easily.

Overall, My Chemical Romance is an excellent band, and for the sake of keeping it real, it would be a lot better off if they didn’t get the mass attention that ruins a lot of bands (see Good Charlotte, Serial Joe, etc.). They’re definitely on my “good enough to buy” list, and I suggest going to check them out right away, cause I’m pretty confident that 100% of my readership has never heard of ’em. Now, can anyone tell me if I’m supposed to use underline for album titles and quotation marks for song titles? I did it the other way for the HIM CD review, and I have no clue which way it’s supposed to be. I just never know. I’d use italics, but I find they’re too hard to make out with this font at this size.

Anyhow, that’s this month’s “Band of the Month”, and I hope that I can do this for at least a couple months before I forget about it. It seems like a good idea to me, and I like the feature, so I’ll be keeping up with it as best as I can.