Music matters man!
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Lady Gaga), before she literally became the "Fame Monster", wrote songs for Britney Spears, Fergie, The Pussycat Dolls and other pop acts. This means that these songs and any such glory or success doesn't technically belong to these people. The fame whore..sorry monster herself should receive the...fame right? But that's how pop works, there is no integrity. It's purely sales figures that matters. Songs are written by whoever, tunes are knocked together on a laptop and someone wails the lyrics into autotune and Robert's your mother's brother- a number 1 is yours.
This is why Rock n Roll is a better than pop. I said it. Don't get me wrong, there are songwriters in rock BUT 1) the bands are lame! 2) they are usually members of the bands anyway. Aaron Embry wrote for Jane's Addiction and Scott Weiland...Jimmy Page has also done session work but that's different.
Zakk Wylde has written 10 studio albums. That's a lot. Metallica, hell could you imagine Metallica letting anyone else into the Sanitarium and write for them?! 4 words "Some Kind of Monster". Metallica have written 9 studio albums and won 9 Grammy's. That brings me on the AC/DC. 16 studio albums! 16! I ain't never done 16 of anything in my life! They've sold 200 millions albums! Mariah Carey and Celine Dion are the only other conventional pop acts who are in the same bracket. I'm sorry I know its not about the sales. Robb Flynn pours his heart and soul into his writing, James Hetfield is master of love and death metaphors in his songs. Dave Grohl has written, in my opinion some of the best songs ever written; Everlong and My Hero. Joey Ramone capture the rage of a generation in one line "Bonzo goes to Bitburg/Then goes out for a cup of tea/As I watched it on TV/somehow it really bothered me".
Compare Anthrax- Schism: "If we were blind and had no choice/would we hate each other by the tone of our voice" to Elevator, written by Gaga for The Pussycat Dolls: "We go up and we go down, down, down/Like an elevator/We touch the sky and touch the ground, ground, ground/Like an elevator".
'Nuff Said.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Machine Head- Newport Centre
HOLY CRAP!
OK so maybe Holy is the wrong word.
and maybe crap isn't appropriate, but I don't like swearing on the Internet. It lacks the...The Je ne se qoui... I feel the English language deserves.
Anywho slap me twice and call me Nancy WHAT A GIG!
There are two types of live musical events in my opinion. 1 is the Concert- AC/DC live at the O2 arena. Metallica at Wembley or O2 or any other venue. Any Muse show. 2 is the gig. the sweaty, dirty, slightly violent and scary smaller show in the crappy venue. The shows that remind you you're still alive. Wednesday the 17th February I was alive. And so were the 700 or so other complete metal heads who were luck enough to drag there sorry asses to the Newport centre.
ZUT ALORS! (yes that 2 pieces of French... cultured ain't I) the power, the passion, the energy! I've seen the head 3 times now but each has been in support of the big M. So naturally they were more subdued than on Wednesday as it wasn't there show, but they owned it this time!
To wait for them to come on stage to a chorus of "Machine F#%kin' Head!" chanted over and over, like the battle cry of an angry army was an experience in it self.
WOW! Robb Flynn himself asked the crowd if we brushed up on our old songs! Boy did we need to! Bite The Bullet, Struck A Nerve, The Burning Red! Man as Mushroom head once said "back to the primitive!". Dave McClain is one of my fav drummers any way but man, that guy had his head down and went for it! Robb is a legend and Phil Demmel, with every thing he's gone through the past year just went up a notch in my book! There was a real chemistry between the guys. They are a real band, who've seen and experienced it all.
Bass players have a certain stigma but Adam Duce gave good and was the driving undertone of the night.However it truly was Phil who played to the crowd. He teased us with the opening noted of Now I Lay The Down and, Considering the guy has a heart condition, played like a mentalist!
I'm a sucker for solo's and was like a kid in a candy shop... or maybe a biker in a motorcycle showroom is more apt! The dueling guitars, back to back shredding was outstanding!
Again it was the loudest gig ever. On the following Friday my ears were still ringing. And muffled, it was like Rob himself had his hand over my ears for 2 days! insane!
Halo. one word. Halo. Please PLEASE people listen to this song. You may not like metal, you may not like Machine Head but this song will change your mind. Nay your world! Yes it's heavy and it aggressive but it listen to it. Absorb it. give it like 5 tries. For me. NO For you! It's got a message, it's got heart, it's got soul. It's got the best freaking solo's around! The encore nearly made me cry. Me and my nest bud Johnny lost our mind! we weren't crown of strangers, we were one mass of enlightened creatures, living in the moment. Peace was real during that 10 minutes. The UN can learn a lesson and suck one.
Then Davidian started.... Let Freedom Reign With A Shotgun Blast.
Long live Machine Head. I fee; obligated to say Metallica and AC/DC are my favourite bands. But if I dig deep and I'm truly honest.. I Love Machine head.
Please listen to Halo. Please.
OK so maybe Holy is the wrong word.
and maybe crap isn't appropriate, but I don't like swearing on the Internet. It lacks the...The Je ne se qoui... I feel the English language deserves.
Anywho slap me twice and call me Nancy WHAT A GIG!
There are two types of live musical events in my opinion. 1 is the Concert- AC/DC live at the O2 arena. Metallica at Wembley or O2 or any other venue. Any Muse show. 2 is the gig. the sweaty, dirty, slightly violent and scary smaller show in the crappy venue. The shows that remind you you're still alive. Wednesday the 17th February I was alive. And so were the 700 or so other complete metal heads who were luck enough to drag there sorry asses to the Newport centre.
ZUT ALORS! (yes that 2 pieces of French... cultured ain't I) the power, the passion, the energy! I've seen the head 3 times now but each has been in support of the big M. So naturally they were more subdued than on Wednesday as it wasn't there show, but they owned it this time!
To wait for them to come on stage to a chorus of "Machine F#%kin' Head!" chanted over and over, like the battle cry of an angry army was an experience in it self.
To start with Clenching The Fist Of Dissent only added fuel to the fire! the intro was clean and crisp but when the song really kicked it I have never EVER heard anything so load! we all had our asses kicked and handed to us on a metal platter!! Dear reader do not underestimate my words. I SWEAR it was the loudest gig I've ever been too. As anyone who knows me...and ask Mike over at got me a movie (all you need in the latest movie reviews, screw total film people! Mike your man) I've been to a LOT of gigs! most of my moolar goes on the pursuit of the ultimate buzz of live music!
It was a bad ass set list too. Not as conventional or obvious as I expected:
- Clenching the Fists of Dissent
- Imperium
- Take My Scars
- Bite the Bullet
- Beautiful Mourning
- Now I Lay Thee Down
- Struck A Nerve
- Aesthetics of Hate
- Old
- The Burning Red
- Seasons Wither
- Bulldozer
- Block Encore:
- Halo
- Davidian
WOW! Robb Flynn himself asked the crowd if we brushed up on our old songs! Boy did we need to! Bite The Bullet, Struck A Nerve, The Burning Red! Man as Mushroom head once said "back to the primitive!". Dave McClain is one of my fav drummers any way but man, that guy had his head down and went for it! Robb is a legend and Phil Demmel, with every thing he's gone through the past year just went up a notch in my book! There was a real chemistry between the guys. They are a real band, who've seen and experienced it all.
Bass players have a certain stigma but Adam Duce gave good and was the driving undertone of the night.However it truly was Phil who played to the crowd. He teased us with the opening noted of Now I Lay The Down and, Considering the guy has a heart condition, played like a mentalist!
I'm a sucker for solo's and was like a kid in a candy shop... or maybe a biker in a motorcycle showroom is more apt! The dueling guitars, back to back shredding was outstanding!
Again it was the loudest gig ever. On the following Friday my ears were still ringing. And muffled, it was like Rob himself had his hand over my ears for 2 days! insane!
Halo. one word. Halo. Please PLEASE people listen to this song. You may not like metal, you may not like Machine Head but this song will change your mind. Nay your world! Yes it's heavy and it aggressive but it listen to it. Absorb it. give it like 5 tries. For me. NO For you! It's got a message, it's got heart, it's got soul. It's got the best freaking solo's around! The encore nearly made me cry. Me and my nest bud Johnny lost our mind! we weren't crown of strangers, we were one mass of enlightened creatures, living in the moment. Peace was real during that 10 minutes. The UN can learn a lesson and suck one.
Then Davidian started.... Let Freedom Reign With A Shotgun Blast.
Long live Machine Head. I fee; obligated to say Metallica and AC/DC are my favourite bands. But if I dig deep and I'm truly honest.. I Love Machine head.
Please listen to Halo. Please.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Kerrang
I'm not here to slag anyone off I promise. I don't want my next words to be but...but kerrang you've changed man. you used to be cool.
My good friend Mike at Got Me A Movie can articulate and formulate clear and concise, perfectly constructed well rounded reviews. I can rant. This time rant I shall. For you see this is something close to my heart.
Imagine if you will it is 6 June 81. You've just finished listening to Ozzy's Diary for a Madman, or perhaps Maidens Killer's. Maybe Mötley Crüe Too Fast for Love if you're that way inclined. You pop along to your local newsagents for a bag of rhubarb and custard sweets or whatever the hell those crazy kids were eating those days (I'm but a minus figure at the time you see). You briefly look to the magazine for a glimpse of a nudy rag when lo you eyes glance upon a new and intriguing magazine. No not Dirty Housewives but this...
My good friend Mike at Got Me A Movie can articulate and formulate clear and concise, perfectly constructed well rounded reviews. I can rant. This time rant I shall. For you see this is something close to my heart.
Imagine if you will it is 6 June 81. You've just finished listening to Ozzy's Diary for a Madman, or perhaps Maidens Killer's. Maybe Mötley Crüe Too Fast for Love if you're that way inclined. You pop along to your local newsagents for a bag of rhubarb and custard sweets or whatever the hell those crazy kids were eating those days (I'm but a minus figure at the time you see). You briefly look to the magazine for a glimpse of a nudy rag when lo you eyes glance upon a new and intriguing magazine. No not Dirty Housewives but this...
Oh dear reader how I wish i was that young boy! I'd have been a quivering wreck! Now drag your mind kicking and screaming out of the 80's when heavy metal was great! To now. Same newsagents. Same rhubarb and custard. Same mucky mags. However...
GWell 2007, but this particular edition pee'd me of ever so! Yes it does mention machine head, who are awesome. (Gig review coming up after the Feb 17!) But seriously Fall Out Boy?! On the same cover that started with AC/DC! The King's of...Everything?! Then "The Sexiest Men in Rock". Firstly don't get me started on why Good Charlotte and My Chemical Romance aren't rock. Then is this Heat magazine or a damn rock n Roll magazine? Sexiest Men in Rock? Who gives one? And it's Dave Grohl. Yes cater for the lady folk if you must but do you have to sell your soul in such a mainstream manner?
Angus would be turning in his grave if he saw what kerrang has turned into. You cant turn the channel on with out emo pop punk videos being played 24/7. You buy the magazine and you have to trawl through pages emo pop punk, eye liner wearing, whining losers. Metro Station should not be in kerrang. Scuzz are half way there, they have the balls to play some decent stuff, but they are in the publishing business.
Maybe I'll start a petition.
Rant over.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Grammy's...Shmammy's
Seriously?!
Green Day?! Best rock album?!
It's bad enough U2 were in the Rock category, Sanctimonious, up his own arse, holier than though...
Aren't Green Day technically a punk band? No they are. I used to really like Green Day in "my youth", and it's a cliche everyone uses but i prefer their older stuff. They've changed their image but it's still punk rock, but there is something sad about a group of 30 somethings wearing eyeliner with with spiky hair singing about politics. Yeah fine have an image, that's all well and good but Green Day have become their own products, caricatures of themselves, over "punked" in their image and themes.
Yeah war is bad, a certain president was really bad but to squeeze 2 albums, a DVD and 5 years worth of touring out of the same message kinda scream one thing to me...MONEY! they struck gold with American Idiot! They become acceptable rock that all the "kids" could listen to, it was justified because they had a message. A new wave of success washed over them, different to their dirty punk days, this time kids actually bought their albums rather than bumming tapes of a mate or bootlegging shows, present company excluded of course! They're bigger now than they have ever been and its off the back of 2 albums.
I don't have a problem with a band having a message but don't use it as a gravy boat. No one changed the world with an album, you have to get out there and do something about it! I'm not condoning vigilante acts of justice! At least Bono bitches enough on TV for some people to listen, stupid self ordained saint...
Even if you ignore or disagree with all I've said there is one other MASSIVE reason why Green Day should not have won that Grammy.
AC/DC.
Enough Said.
Green Day?! Best rock album?!
It's bad enough U2 were in the Rock category, Sanctimonious, up his own arse, holier than though...
Aren't Green Day technically a punk band? No they are. I used to really like Green Day in "my youth", and it's a cliche everyone uses but i prefer their older stuff. They've changed their image but it's still punk rock, but there is something sad about a group of 30 somethings wearing eyeliner with with spiky hair singing about politics. Yeah fine have an image, that's all well and good but Green Day have become their own products, caricatures of themselves, over "punked" in their image and themes.
Yeah war is bad, a certain president was really bad but to squeeze 2 albums, a DVD and 5 years worth of touring out of the same message kinda scream one thing to me...MONEY! they struck gold with American Idiot! They become acceptable rock that all the "kids" could listen to, it was justified because they had a message. A new wave of success washed over them, different to their dirty punk days, this time kids actually bought their albums rather than bumming tapes of a mate or bootlegging shows, present company excluded of course! They're bigger now than they have ever been and its off the back of 2 albums.
I don't have a problem with a band having a message but don't use it as a gravy boat. No one changed the world with an album, you have to get out there and do something about it! I'm not condoning vigilante acts of justice! At least Bono bitches enough on TV for some people to listen, stupid self ordained saint...
Even if you ignore or disagree with all I've said there is one other MASSIVE reason why Green Day should not have won that Grammy.
AC/DC.
Enough Said.
The Betrayed- Lostprophets
I'm Welsh. There I've said it. I like the Lostprophets. There I've said that too. I've met them a few times, I've seem them millions of times. I've a good mate in another local band called Kids In Glass Houses and they've supported them loads and there cool guys.
I know I said in my description that I don't like new wave, emo pop punk. That said the Prophets are a band I've followed since their beginning. Anyone who knows them, seen them, or looked into them know they do have a metal core running through them. I'd defiantly recommend listening to there cover of Machine Heads Davidian- it's awesome!
That being said the new album, The Betrayed, is...interesting. Ian and Mike used to be in a thrash metal band called Aftermath. Then Ian, Mike and Lee were in a hardcore punk band called Fleshbind. I've seen the pictures of them on holiday in these hardcore punk/trash days. If you don't believe me check out good ol' Wikipedia.This metal influence can be seen on the new album, Dstryr and Dstryr and Next Stop Atro City are badass man! Dstryr and Dstryr live will rock you little socks off! Next Stop Atro City has and amazing bridge (in the words of Russell Brand "I like to cater to the thick, not that im suggesting that anyone here is, and if you're offended by that. then you have to go, "I'm offended by that", and then the caveat must be, "because I'm thick." so by being offended, you've sort of acknowledged that you are thick. and none of you are, so we're all back on speaking terms") The double beats and heavy riff is wicked, and I truly believe they could make a top notch metal band, i just wish they would stick to one theme!
End Of The World and Where We Belong are good little rock ditty's. End Of The World has a real Muse vibe to it, seriously that solo is classic Bellamy! Dirty Little Heart is the standard "love song" in the same vein as Always All Ways and Broken Hearts, Torn Up Letters off Liberation Transmission.
The last song on the album The Light That Burns Twice As Bright has a hidden track...I hate hidden tracks! there a pain in the ass man, your out for a run, suddenly the song ends so OK you wait for a bit for the next song but NOOOO! 5 minutes later the hidden track starts, you gotta stop, get your generic MP3 player out either skip our try and find the next part of the song. Man it just spoils my groove ya know! anywho the song(s) is good. big open chorus, nice piano arrangement, has an industrial Nine Inch Nail feel to it, a bit like Sway from what I consider their best album Start Something. Or do I prefer The Fake sound of Progress...? it's a hard one, depending on what mood I'm in, its the eternal struggle I face- Kill em all or Master of Puppets? The Colour and the Shape or Foo Fighters? Paranoid or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath?
I detract. For He's A Jolly Good Felon is an INDIE song. There are "oh ohs" in it. "oh ohs". I get the song, it's about a thieving mate from the valleys, i do get it. But it's its an indie/mod song. it's like the Clash, but not The Clash but sort of The Clash. It's missing the punk, political theme to justify it. Sorry.
So the Betrayed. It's an album that doesn't know what it wants to be. We have Metal, Rock, Indie and #cough# Punk/Pop/Mod. It's better that Liberation Transmission, its not hard, but it doesn't touch the first 2 albums! They said it was going to be "dark and gritty", yeah maybe the lyrics are but the tunes are all too different. It's just like these fashionistas you see with all the make up and hand bags and jewellery wearing an AC/DC t-shirt! FADS! I don't like to pigeon hole but you have to have a central theme. Imagine Avatar suddenly becoming a black and white french espionage thriller a third of the way through! Tell you I'd watch it if it did! What I'm trying to say it stick to your roots and don't make an album for sales sake. Though that is never going to happen so I will go back to banging my head against a brick wall.
7/10.
Rant over. Peace out.
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